According to Senior Inspector Nagnath Askulkar of the Azad Maidan police station, the four men barged into Alfred Restaurant at the Princess Street junction and told S Shapuji to pay them Rs 25,000. They threatened to smash the crockery and kill the owner if he failed to pay up by evening, Askulkar said.

The quartet claimed that other hotels in the area like Dilbahar and Topaz had been regularly paying them protection money, following which Shapuji agrred to pay up, said Assistant Inspector of Police Vilas Joshi.

However, the four were in for a surprise when they came to collect their pickings in the evening. The restaurant's cashier rushed out onto the street and screamed chor chor at the top of his voice, attracting the attention of a police patrol. Two of the four men were arrested on the spot while the other two were nabbed late in the evening,police added.

The four have been identified as John D'Souza, Ashok Shai, Prakash Rawlani and Hasmukh Jain. The police believe that they are not affiliated to any underworld gang, but joined forces to make a quick buck.