The Haryana Police on Sunday busted a gang which used to trick rich people into friendship with women and later extort money by threatening to register false rape cases against them.
Police said five people, including a woman and four men were arrested from Kurukshetra and nearby areas, 110 km from here.
"During investigation, it was found that the gang used to trap rich people of the area around Kurukshetra and Kaithal towns into friendship and later demand lakhs of rupees as ransom in lieu of not registering any false rape case against them," a Haryana Police spokesman said here.
Police recovered Rs.5.70 lakh cash, a revolver, live cartridges, some important documents and a fake police identity card from them.
The gang's activities came to light when a victim, who hailed from Kaithal town, complained to police about being black-mailed by a woman and others.
"The gang had extracted Rs.25.5 lakh and was demanding Rs 35 lakh more from different people," the spokesman said.
Those arrested included the woman, gang leader Virender Kumar, Satish Kumar, Jaswinder Singh and Jagdeep Singh.