Three persons, who posed as Maoists, were arrested by police on the charge of extortion in the district on Sunday. A forest official was among those arrested. He was identified as Sambalpur zone Deputy Ranger Batakrushna Sethi.
The two others, who were arrested along with theofficial, were siblings Dala Gobinda Sahu and Balaram Sahu.
The trio was threatening senior Government officials, contractors and big businessmen and extorting money from them by impersonating as Maoists.
Acting on a tipoff, a team of the Bhatli police conducted raids at various locations in Bargarh and nabbed the three. The cops also seized cash of Rs 1.65 lakh, three mobile phones and two bikes from their possession.
The three accused were extorting money from reputed contractors and businessmen in the past four years by posing as Maoists.
They were calling upon the people and threatening them, said Bargarh SP Mukesh Kumar Bhamoo.
A trap was laid to catch the fake Maoists after receiving information against them from various quarters, he added.