PUNE: Five persons including a woman sex worker have been booked by Pune city police for allegedly trying to extort Rs 5 lakh from a man who had used her services, after threatening to file rape case against him and defame him.

The 30-year-old from Kalewadi has lodged an FIR against the accused persons with Bhosari police station.

The incident took place at 2.30 pm on Saturday at Vanraj Hotel, a lodge, in Bhosari. The complainant had paid Rs 1500 to the prostitute, and when he was coming out of the lodge, the accused persons caught him and demanded Rs 5 lakh and threatened to lodge a rape case against him and defame him if he failed to pay. When he showed his inability to pay the amount, the accused persons forcefully took away Rs 6,000 from his pocket.

Later, the man lodged an FIR against the accused persons identified as Maya Yashwant Sawant, Maya Ovhal, Anita Jadhav, Pranali Pawar and Ravindra Motiram Shirsam (45) of Hadapsar. Police have arrested Shirsam and two other women in the case.

Police officials said that the accused persons operated as a gang wherein the commercial sex workers were used to trap the men from whom they used to extort money in similar modus operandi.