Five scribes held for threatening and extortion in Adilabad

Five journalists working with vernacular newspapers were arrested in Adilabad district for allegedly threatening a man and extorting Rs 2 lakh in 2023. Police said they tried to blackmail him by threatening to publish adverse news

Adilabad: Five scribes working with vernacular newspapers were arrested on Sunday on charges of threatening and extortion of Rs 2 lakh from a person in Boath mandal centre three years ago.

Boath Inspector D Guruswamy said Bheema Praveen, Busa Ramu, Manchikunta Sathish and Baddam Dinesh Reddy, all from Boath, and Gaddam Ajay Kumar of Neradigonda were arrested for their role in threatening to defame Bairi Venkataswamy of Dhannur (B) by publishing adverse news and extracting Rs 2 lakh from him in 2023.

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Police said the five threatened Venkataswamy to publish news reports exposing his illicit affair with a woman. They then took Rs 2 lakh from him for not publishing the report in their newspapers. However, the victim approached the police and lodged a complaint, following which they were arrested.