"Groups of criminals, each comprising three to four unemployed youths, who had returned from jails, were allegedly extorting in the name of Maoists," Inspector General of Police (Operation) S N Pradhan told a local news channel.
"There are two fronts now - fighting an ideological battle with Maoists and another of extortion indulged by criminals in the name of Maoists. We have to make strategies to tackle them," Pradhan said.
His comments came in the background of traders getting extortion letters on Maoist letter heads or posters in Simdega and other places of Jharkhand.
Stating that about 250 new police stations were either constructed or would be completed by March next year, Pradhan said the phase-wise modernisation in Jharkhand done during the last ten years had not only been appreciated by others but also described as a model one to be followed.