Youth held for trying to extort MLA

Nayagarh: A youth was arrested by the district police on Tuesday for allegedly making calls to Dasapalla legislator Purna Nayak and asking him for Rs 25 lakh identifying himself as a Maoist.

The arrested person has been identified as Sushant Nayak, a resident of Nuagaon in the district.

Manoranjan Mohanty, Nayagarh SP, said, “We got to know about the caller Sushant Nayak, who is 20 years old. He has not studied much, only up to Class VII or VIII, and is a wayward type. Nayak confessed he made calls repeatedly from his phone to the MLA to extort money in the name of a Maoist. We have seized the SIM card and mobile phone from which the call was made.”

The SP further stated, “A case has been registered at the Daspalla police station under Sec 385, 387, 506, 419, 467 of IPC and Sec 66 of IT Act. Nayagarh SDPO is probing the matter. The accused said he wanted to extort money to resolve his family problems.”

Nayak told media persons, “I was going through a lot of family problems. My mother was ill and our farm lands were mortgaged. I wanted Rs 1-1.5 lakh and asked the legislator for the money. I made calls to the MLA in the name of Lal Bahini. However, I don’t know what Maoist is and no idea about their activities.”

The youth had extorted Rs 25,000 from Kalasakhamana samiti member by sending a letter to him earlier.