A civic volunteer and a village policeman attached to Swarupnagar police station in North-24 Parganas were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly outraging the modesty of a young woman from Karnataka in front of her father and extorting money from the two.

The incident occurred at Swarupdaha village of Bithari gram panchayat close to the India-Bangladesh border on Tuesday night when the woman and her father were roaming in search of a Bangladeshi national who isher husband.

Civic volunteer Jasim Sardar and village policeman Mohid Sardar are accused of extorting ₹46,000 from the man, a labour contractor by profession, besides some cash and jewellery from the woman after they failed to substantiate the reason behind their presence in the area.

Jasim and Mohid allegedly forced the man to transfer the amount through aUPI transaction.

Police and local sources said Jasim and Mohid noticed that the woman and her father were roaming in Swarupdaha. The duo asked the woman and the father for substantial identity proof and wanted to know why they were in the area. “Since they failed to provide a credible reason to the satisfaction of the civicvolunteer and the village policemen, the duo demanded ₹1 lakh for their release,” said a source.

The man in his complaint stated that his son-in-law, a Bangladeshi national, had recently run away with his three-year-old son from Bengaluru. They came to know that he had taken shelter in Bithari and rushed there on Tuesday night to find him. They were roaming when the civic volunteer and the village policemanstopped them.

After Jasim and Mohid left, the woman and the father approached some villagers who called the police. The man later on Wednesday morning lodged the complaint against the duo.

Based on the complaint, a police team nabbed Jasim and Mohid, who are residents of Hakimpur-Padmabila village. They were produced in the Basirhat subdivisional court which remanded them in five-day judicial custody.

The woman was also taken to the court where she recorded her statement before a judicial magistrate.

A lawyer appearing for the man said: “The woman was assaulted brutally while she tried to resist attempts to outrage her modesty and to save her money and ornaments. This is unbelievable. So, we appealed to the court not to grant bail to the accused.”

A police officer of Basirhat said: “A probe has begun and the law will take itsown course.”