The Udupi police arrested four men in Kinnimulki, who were planning a string of robberies in the district.
The arrested were identified as Shyam, Venkatesh, Rakesh and Gopi.
The police were tipped off by the public about the five men conversing in Tamil and Hindi and about their plans to executive robberies. Police arrested the accused based on their suspicious movements near Kinnimulki.
Circle Inspector Manjunath formed a team and succeeded in arresting four of the five suspected thieves.
One among them, however, succeeded in escaping from the spot.
The youth, who fled from the place, was identified as Paramashiva alias Ramesh.
The four accused admitted to have planned the robbery of people walking in the area by throwing chilly powder on their face, he said.
The four arrested also possessed face masks and fake documents of bikes. The police seized all the materials and registered cases under IPC sections 399, 402 and 420.
Manjunath said that the arrested men wanted to target senior citizens and women.
All the arrested were members of a gang from Chittoor in Andra Pradesh and further investigation is on, he said.
The arrested men also had fake Aadhaar cards. The court remanded them in police custody for four days.