RTI activist held for blackmail, Rs 5-crore extortion bid against Andhra MP

Police arrested an RTI activist from Mumbai for allegedly blackmailing an MP from Andhra Pradesh’s West Godavari district and attempting to extort Rs 5 crore by threatening to share sensitive information obtained through RTI applications

Mumbai: An RTI activist was apprehended from Mumbai for allegedly blackmailing an Andhra Pradesh MP and attempting to extort Rs 5 crore from him, police said on Tuesday.

The accused, Rushant Jaykumar Wadke, was nabbed from south Mumbai in a joint operation by the Andhra Pradesh and Mumbai police, an official said.

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According to the police, Wadke, who claimed to be an RTI activist, allegedly targeted an MP from West Godavari district by threatening to share sensitive information he had obtained through Right to Information (RTI) applications with Central probe agencies.

The MP started receiving threatening calls, and he sent his personal assistant to meet Wadke in the Medukur area for negotiation. But the accused allegedly robbed the PA at knifepoint, taking Rs 70,000 cash, police said.

A case was registered against the accused at Medukur police station, and following a probe, Wadke was traced to Mumbai, the official said.