Rayagada: Four people including two women who attempted to extort Rs60 lakh from a trader in Odisha’s Rayagada district posing as Maoists were arrested, a police officer said Wednesday.
The four had called up the trader, identifying themselves as Maoists and demanded money for their organisation earlier this month.
They had also threatened to try him in a kangaroo court and eliminate him if he failed to meet the demand or report the matter to the police.
“As the trader received continuous calls from them and got an extortion letter at his home, he lodged a FIR at Doraguda police station,” Rayagada district Superintendent of Police Vivekananda Sarma said.
A special team was formed to investigate the case and the callers were arrested Tuesday, he said.
“During interrogation, it was found that they were not related to any Maoist organisation. They had posed as Maoists as people seldom complain to the police against Maoists,” the SP added.
While two of the accused are residents of Kalahandi district, the two others belong to Rayagada and Jharsuguda districts.
The police have appealed to people not to panic if they receive phone calls from so-called Maoists. In such cases, they were advised to approach the nearest police station and file complaints.
PTI