Bareilly (UP), Mar 29 (PTI) Two members of a gang, allegedly claiming to be officials collecting GST, were arrested for extorting money from truck drivers near the Uttarakhand border in Bareilly district, police said on Saturday.

Three others, however, managed to flee towards Uttarakhand, when police came to catch them in the act on Thursday, they said.

Sheeshgarh Station House Officer (SHO) of Sheeshgarh police station Dharmendra Singh said the police control room received information that some people in a car on Tanda Changa-Bahedi road were stopping trucks and collecting money from drivers.

When police arrived, three people standing outside the car managed to flee and were seen going in the direction of neighbouring Uttarakhand, while two people sitting in the car were caught on the spot.

The SHO said the arrested gang members identified as Jagdeep Singh and Sanjay Das.

A country-made pistol, a revolver, a laptop, two phones and 2,000 collected from the truck drivers were recovered from the accused.

A case has been registered against the five accused for violation of the Arms Act.

During interrogation, the accused said they would stop trucks coming from Uttarakhand and extort money by showing them "GST bills" regarding the goods loaded in their vehicles. If a did not pay the money, they would threaten him by showing a gun, the SHO said. PTI COR CDN SKY SKY

Extortion using fake GST bills: suspects impersonated tax officials and used firearms to coerce truck drivers. Two gang members were arrested for stopping commercial trucks near a state border, impersonating tax officials and extorting money by showing fake GST bills while threatening refusal with firearms; police recovered weapons, electronic devices and cash, registered offences including violation of the Arms Act, and continue investigation to apprehend fleeing accomplices and substantiate the fabricated tax documentation scheme.