Dhenkanal: Hundreds of villagers staged a protest at the district police headquarters of Dhenkanal in Odisha on Monday accusing two persons of threatening them to evict them from their houses and demanding money posing as journalists.
The villagers of Ankarantipur in Odapada block submitted a petition at t
he district police office, addressed to the Revenue and Divisional Commissioner (RDC) norther division.
They alleged that two men named Priyabrata Garnaik and Rinku Jena are making extortion threats, while falsely identifying themselves as journalists. They were allegedly demanding payments from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh over land related issues.
“These two are approaching villagers and asking money, threatening that those who do not pay will be thrown out of their houses. They are especially targeting people who do not have proper land documents,” a protester told a local news channel.
The protesters demanded immediate steps by the administration to prevent extortion and arrest the accused persons.