Bhubaneswar, May 25: Four men were arrested on Tuesday night for allegedly extorting money from vehicle owners on the national highway passing between Bhubaneswar and Cuttack near Palasuni Square. The police seized a motorcycle from them.

The family members of the accused, however, alleged that two of the persons charged were travelling on a motorcycle a car had hit them at a turning. When the two asked the car driver to pay for the damages, the man inside the car claimed that he was a senior police officer and informed the control room.

In the meantime, two other men from the crowd came to the rescue of the motorcyclists and also asked the car owner to pay for the damages caused to the motorbike. A police control room van reached the spot and arrested the four men, alleged their family members.

The accused were identified as Lalat Kishore Lenka from Jagatsinghpur, Anand Kumar Parida from Khurda, Binod Kumar Sahoo and Tapan Behera, both from the Mancheswar area.

However, the police alleged that the men were collecting money from the drivers by stopping their vehicles on the highway.

“One of the drivers called up the emergency number at the police control room. A van was asked to rush to the spot. Seeing the police patrolling van, the men tried to escape. However, they were caught,” said a police officer.

The accused have been arrested under Section 384 (for extortion) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the IPC. They were today produced in court after their bail petitions were rejected.

The Mancheswar police, however, said the police van went to the spot after being instructed by the control room and arrested the men from the spot. Seeing the police vehicle, they tried to escape.

The police, however, rubbished the allegations made by the accused persons. “If the car had hit these youths, they should have come to the police station and lodged a complaint with us. They should not have demanded money from the car owner,” said a police officer.

But he refused to comment as to whether a senior police officer was in the car or not.

Police said that the arrested men from Pandara had no previous criminal records and added that they were checking the criminal antecedents of other two who belong to Jagatsinghpur and Khurda.