ROURKELA: Birmitapur MLA George Tirkey, who continues to be on a collision course with the Sundargarh district administration over issues of tribal land, is in for fresh trouble with the Lathikata police registering an extortion case against him following a complaint by a land dealer.
However, at a press conference on Friday, Tirkey claimed the allegation was baseless and meant to politically defame him. The police case came after supporters of Tirkey, in his presence on Tuesday, demolished enclosures of two patches of land belonging to land dealer Saroj Swain at Lepakhaman and Pithakihia villages of Lathikata Tehsil limits.
After lodging the complaint, Swain told mediapersons on Thursday that Tirkey through his three supporters had demanded `10 lakh from him for his tribal convention at Jhirpani. When he refused, Tirkey’s supporters resorted to vandalism on Sunday. Swain claimed he legally bought two patches of land from two private individuals in 2013 and 2014 and supporters of Tirkey continued to harass and extract money on various pleas. He claimed while erecting the boundary walls, he was asked to pay ` five lakh and after payment of `50,000, he was allowed to erect enclosures.