Jamshedpur, Oct. 18: A 32-year-old man, who along with his aides tried to pull off an extortion at an industrial unit in Dhalbhumgarh posing as Naxalites, was arrested from Chakulia this morning.

Hunt is on to nab his accomplices.

Dayamoi Giri, a resident of Chakulia block, was rounded up from a marketplace.

During interrogation, he admitted that he and his friends had tried to extort money from the unit at Dhalbhumgarh, Sukh Sagar Metals Private Limited.

He also revealed the names of two gang members — Pradip Pandey, the mastermind of the extortion plot, and Pankaj Giri, also a resident of Chakulia.

Both Pradip and Pankaj are absconding since Dayamoi’s arrest. Police suspect that there may be more gang members involved.

Sub-divisional police officer, Ghatshila, Anup Virthare said Pradip had a criminal background and tried to take advantage of the Naxalites’ increasing sway in Ghatshila sub-division to collect money from industrial units.

“Dayamoi and Pankaj used to work as labour suppliers at Sukh Sagar Metals Private Limited. But a dispute cropped up between them and the management, and they decided to teach the factory owner a lesson.

“As Naxalite fear looms large in the sub-division, the two teamed up with a local goon and hatched a conspiracy to extort money from the owner in the name of the rebels,” Virthare said.

According to the police officer, four days ago, the gang dropped a letter at the office of Sukh Sagar Metals Private Limited, asking its proprietor Subodh Jaiswal to cough up Rs 15 lakh if he wanted to run the unit peacefully.

The gang also called up at Jaiswal’s Jamshedpur residence from Dayamoi’s cellphone and introduced themselves as Naxalites. They threatened him with him dire consequences if their demand was not met.

They even fired a couple of rounds in front of the factory gate in the evening of October 16 to scare Jaiswal, who then informed East Singhbhum superintendent of police Naveen Kumar Singh.

After receiving the complaint, the police swung into action immediately and tracked the cellphone from which the call was made, which led to Dayamoi’s arrest.

“Dayamoi and his two associates are not Naxalites. We suspected that from the beginning. We are trying to find out whether this was the gang’s maiden attempt to extort money,” Virthare said, refusing to divulge more.

The Dhalbhumgarh police have registered a case of attempted extortion against the three on the basis of the FIR lodged by Jaiswal.