The CBI on Thursday arrested and dismissed from service four of its sub-inspectors posted at the agency headquarters in Delhi on the charge of extortion during a “fake” raid in Chandigarh.

The four accused officers had allegedly conducted an unauthorised raid on an information technology firm on Tuesday to extort money. The employees of the firm found the conduct of the officers suspicious and alerted Chandigarh police, who detained the four before handing them over to the CBI.

A CBI spokesperson on Thursday said the four arrested officers — Sumit Gupta, Pradeep Rana, Ankur Kumar and Akash Ahlawat — have now been sacked.

“The complainant, who runs a partnership firm in Chandigarh, had alleged that on May 10 six persons, including CBI officers, entered his office and threatened him that he would be arrested for supporting and providing money to terrorists…. It was further alleged that the accused forcibly took the complainant in a car and also demanded Rs 25 lakh from him,” the spokesperson said.

As part of its zero-tolerance policy towards corruption and other offences, not only with respect to those from outside but also among its own officers, the CBI immediately registered a case, identified the accused sub-inspectors and arrested them, the spokesperson said.