BENGALURU: Sampigehalli police on Saturday arrested a six-member gang, including a history-sheeter, for extortion. The accused allegedly posed as members of state human rights organisation and raided a handbag manufacturing unit.
The owner alerted the police when the gang tried to extort ransom by accusing him of employing child labours.
The accused are - Ramachandra, a history sheeter and his associates Santosh Kumar, Praveen Kumar, Puttaraju, Karthik and Nikhil Oliver. The are all residents of Indiranagar and Ulsoor and are aged between 28 and 35 years.
A senior police officer said that around 6pm the gang barged into the unit belonging to Shabaz, a native of Bihar. He is a resident of Sarayipalya and was alone in the unit. The gang, led by Ramachandra, showed him fake ID and business cards, threatened to lock out the firm and file a criminal case against him. Later, they demanded `2 lakh to not to take any action against him.
Shabaz, who grew suspicious of their behaviour, came out from the unit and called one of his friends and alerted the police. Police rushed to the spot and nabbed the accused.
The gang is being interrogated to ascertain if they were involved in similar extortion and impersonation cases earlier.