HYDERABAD: Increasing incidents of villagers looting motorists travelling towards the airport and beyond during late evening hours is giving people quite a fright.Senior police officials said miscreants often keep obstacles on road at night and when the vehicles slow down, they get in the motorists' way and feign getting knocked down. Scared motorists are then threatened with a police case unless they pay up cash as 'compensation'.At least five-six such cases occur every month, although many more are attempted which don't go according to 'plan', police said. When a motorist is cornered, villagers flock to the spot and beat him up before making away with their belongings, including gold and cash.That police are aware of villagers with such behaviour is evident from incidents that came to light in Shamshabad, Shadnagar and Maheshwaram thanda areas."Such incidents have been reported on and off along villages dotting national highway 44. After an 'accident', villagers pour out on the road and force commuters to part with their valuables. Villages like Duntikunta thanda, Gurgula and Kothur are among the notorious ones," said Shadnagar town inspector V Ramakrishna.The cause behind the extortions, say observers, is the stark difference in economic conditions between city dwellers and village folk in the surrounding areas. Many feel left out and have taken to robbery."Typically, men from villages hope to come across expensive vehicles and SUVs and get hit by one. This is how they can demand large sums from the owners. It is about wanting quick money, and most certainly by employing illegal methods to do so," said another inspector-level cop who did not want to be named.Amidst all this, the scare that motorists go through is beyond description. Rinivasulu P, a cab driver who no longer takes the notorious route during night hours, said, "It is mostly single travellers they target. It has happened to me twice while returning from the airport after 12 am. On one occasion, the villagers dispersed on seeing a police patrol car approaching by chance. But on an another occasion I was actually assaulted and robbed of my day's earnings."Kothur sub-inspector A Srisailam said a lot of villagers do cross the highway, which leads to a high number of accidents.A genuine accident or otherwise, locals are afraid of travelling at night. "I noticed a man, probably drunk, standing in the middle of the road at a turn at Maheshwaram Kamman. I manoeuvred my vehicle to keep my distance, but the man got close and kicked my vehicle and shouted out loud. Within seconds, three other people came in front of my vehicle, stopped me and demanded compensation. It was 1 am and I could not see any patrol vehicle nearby. Scared, my wife asked me to hand over whatever cash we had. They let us go only after we handed over a gold chain and Rs 3,000," recalled Anjali Mishra, a resident of a upscale villa scheme at Maheshwaram.