Three people, including a contractual school teacher, were arrested on Thursday in Bihar for allegedly threatening politicians and officials and extorting money from them, police said.
Sunil Kumar, additional director general at the police headquarters here, said the three were arrested after they tried to extort money from a minister, a former minister, and several legislators and officials.
"It was a big breakthrough for police as pressure was increasing following repeated complaints from a number of influential people, including a minister, former minister, and several legislators and officials, about threats and extortion demands," Sunil Kumar said.
Last week, the extortionists had demanded Rs.10 lakh from Bima Bharti, minister for backward and extremely backward castes. Later, the extortionists demanded a similar amount from former minister Brishin Patel.
Both Bharti and Patel were also threatened of dire consequences if they did not pay the extortion money.
The extortionists also demanded a huge amount of money from Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) legislator Chandrashekhar and Janata Dal-United (JD-U) legislator Neeraj Kumar Bablu.
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Besides, extortion was also demanded from half a dozen officials across the state.
Police have also recovered 17 SIM cards and half a dozen mobile phones from the possession of the arrested people.
"They obtained SIM cards on the basis of fake and forged documents," Sunil Kumar said.
He said FIRs were lodged against them in Patna, Madhepura, Saharsa and Purnea districts.