Bengaluru : Two people who tried to attack their way out of capture came under fire from policemen after their bid to extort money from a man went awry.

Mohammed Riaz (21) and Mohammed Basith (23) set fire to vehicles inside the man’s house to intimidate him into paying the amount. Having to confront the police who came to detain them, the duo wielded a knife in an escape bid and were shot and arrested.

Riaz and Basith hail from Tamil Nadu and have been in the city for nearly a year and a half.

DCP (north) N Shashikumar said the duo had set four bikes ablaze in T Dasarahalli on Monday night.

“Soon after we received information about the incident, the night beat personnel swung into action,” Shashikumar said. “The team was tipped off about the duo’s presence at an isolated place on Hesaraghatta Road near Acharya College.”

Soladevanahalli inspector C B Sivaswamy rushed to the spot with a team. Two of the team members, Srinivas and Mallikarjun, went to arrest Riaz and Basith, but the accused wielded the knife to dodge arrest.

The in inspector warned them to surrender, but the duo tried to attack him. Sivaswamy shot them in self defence. The accused and the injured policemen were taken to hospital.

The police said the man, R Srinivas (55), who lives in T Dasarahalli, runs a water plant near Mutturaya Temple. Watching his 25-year-old son Sharath Raj driving high-end cars, the accused imagined that Srinivas had plenty of money and wanted to make some quick cash by kidnapping Raj.

Srinivas told that the accused doused the bikes parked inside the compound and his house with petrol at 1.30 am on Tuesday and set them ablaze.

“I received a call from them demanding Rs 50 lakh,” Srinivas said. “On the one hand, I was busy putting out the flames and, on the other hand, I was answering their calls.”

“Soon after we informed the authorities, the police and fire and emergency services rushed to the spot. The police then began negotiations with the accused, who threatened to set fire to our water plant if we failed to pay the money. They even said they would kidnap my son,” Srinivas added.

The demand was brought down to Rs 25 lakh and the accused finally agreed to Rs 12 lakh. Riaz and Basith gave the location for the handover of the money, only for the police to get them.

“I later came to know that one of the accused is a relative of a person who owns a rice shop a few metres from my house and the other accused worked in the same shop,” Srinivas said.