YANGON, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- A total of 10 men have been arrested for extorting money from local charcoal makers in a forest in Myanmar's southern Bago region, Myanmar News Agency quoted the police as reporting Sunday.

Claiming as members of the news media from the capital Nay Pyi Taw, the 10 people took photos of charcoal manufacturers' plants in the forest reserve on Wednesday, threatening the charcoal makers about their "illegal" making of charcoal and demanding them to pay 200,000 kyats (133.3 U.S. dollars).

A day later, the same 10-men group threatened other bamboo charcoal-makers in the same way.

However, a fight erupted which involved police in intervention.

During the police's interrogation, offenders confessed that they had extorted 1 million kyats (666 U.S. dollars) from a charcoal maker in the same area five days earlier.

Police have filed against the 10 people.