Bhubaneswar: The city police on Friday arrested eight people, including four women, on charges of extorting money from various educational institutions.According to police, the accused are associated with a private money recovery agency.Chandrasekharpur police said the accused had gathered outside the main gate of a private college on Thursday, creating chaos and obstruction, allegedly shouting defamatory slogans against the chairman and vice-chairman and beating drums loudly. Their actions reportedly frightened staff and students, and disrupted entry of people into the campus.Police said that the group had engaged in similar unlawful activities on March 30. “On Thursday, they blocked the college gate, waved red flags and disrupted academic activities and examinations. They identified themselves as recovery agents of a private finance company and extorted money from educational institutions,” a police officer said.The police authorities believe the intent of the accused was to intimidate the institution during the admission season.The accused, however, denied the charges. One of them claimed, “We are an authorised enforcement wing of a private lender. Our job is to recover dues from defaulters. We never extorted money from anyone.”The suspects alleged they had visited the private technical institute to recover loan amounts but were prevented by security personnel from meeting the authorities. They said their protest outside the campus was met with misbehaviour, particularly toward their women staff, and accused the police of siding with the institute.An arrested woman said, “Though we were manhandled, the police refused to accept our complaint. They showed undue favour to the institute and arrested us despite no wrongdoing.”
