Their arrest came as five similar robberies by women - most of whom spoke Putonghua - disguised as prostitutes or masseuses were reported to police on Tuesday and yesterday.

The suspects were spotted by passersby when they approached male strangers near Heng On Estate in Ma On Shan.

The two women who were arrested were picked up near Heng On MTR station.

Sources said the two - a 52-year-old hostel owner, Lau, and a 50-year-old farmer, Fong - were on the wanted list.

Their husbands, spotted nearby, were also taken away. Sources said another mainland woman was also arrested in Mong Kok yesterday in connection with a robbery in Aberdeen on Tuesday, which the women arrested earlier admitted.

That saw a 67-year-old man, passing by a bus stop on Tong Sing Road, being approached by a woman with an offer of massage services.

He was led to a building whereupon he was grabbed by the waist and private parts as they were mounting the stairs.

That was when another woman appeared and snatched his gold chain worth HK$25,000. They then fled.

Around 6 pm the same day, a 60-year-old man was lured by two Putonghua-speaking women in their 30s and 40s offering massage services and ended with him robbed of his HK$25,000 gold necklace.

A similar robbery at 2 pm yesterday in Sheung Shui saw a man being targeted by snatch thieves on Jockey Club Road who fled with his gold bracelet after surprising him from behind. A man and a woman in her 40s are being sought.

Also yesterday a 60-year-old man had his gold chain, worth some HK$10,000, snatched.

He was with a prostitute in a hostel room in Wing Wah Building in Mong Kok, when the woman snatched his chain and fled.