Seven people were arrested in West Bengal's Jhargram district for allegedly extorting people after identifying themselves as Maoists, police said on Friday.

A complaint was filed by a businessman that he was threatened by Maoists and asked to pay a huge amount of money, they said.

Three people were arrested in connection with the case earlier. After interrogating them, seven more were arrested from the Belpahari area, police said.

These men were allegedly operating a racket to extort people after identifying them as Maoists, they said.

When produced before a court on Friday, five of the seven men were sent to three days in police custody while the other two accused were sent to judicial custody.

A case has been filed under IPC sections 386 (extortion) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), police said.

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