Three men claiming to be RTI activists were arrested for allegedly extorting a builder at Dombivli in Thane district of Maharashtra, police said on Friday. Two of the arrested accused are brothers, police said adding that they had asked the victim to either pay Rs 30 lakh to them or allot three flats in his housing project. The Anti Extortion Cell (AEC) of the crime branch of Thane police made the arrest on Thursday morning.

According to police, with their arrest, the total number of self-proclaimed RTI activists held for allegedly extorting builders has gone up to eight within a month. The trio was identified as Vasant Joshi (46), Vinod Gangaram Joshi (35) and Kalpesh Gangaram Joshi (29), they said.