Journalist among three held for extortion bid on doc

Three persons, including a 30-year-old freelance journalist, were arrested by the east Delhi police on Saturday for allegedly blackmailing an east Delhi-based doctor by conducting a sting operation on his 'illegal' practice.

Three persons, including a 30-year-old freelance journalist, were arrested by the east Delhi police on Saturday for allegedly blackmailing an east Delhi-based doctor by conducting a sting operation on his 'illegal' practice.

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The arrested have been identified as Himanshu, 30, a freelance journalist, and his associates Sachin Mishra, 33, working as a IT manager with a leading Hindi News channel, and his colleague Saurabh Tripathi, 22.

A senior police officer said the three were arrested following a complaint lodged at the Mandawali police station by one Mahesh Kumar, an MBBS doctor.

Kumar runs a private clinic in the area.

"They were arrested from the Mandawali area on November 10. Kumar alleged that the three accused conducted a sting operation on his practice and filmed the incident. They demanded Rs 5 lakh from him and threatened to broadcast it on all news channels if he failed to pay up," a senior police officer told Hindustan Times.

The complainant further alleged that the deal had been settled at Rs 1.5 lakh and he had asked the three accused to collect the money from his house on November 10.

"Acting on a tip-off, we laid a trap and arrested the three men when they came to collect the money at Kumar's residence. A case of extortion has been registered against them at the Mandawali police station," added the officer. "We are probing the case,"he added.