Karnataka Hindu Mahasabha chief arrested in alleged extortion case

Suresh, a resident of Kavoor in Mangaluru, decided to do business with Pavithran on a partnership basis. “However, after coming to know about his dubious business deals, Suresh opted out,” police said

Hindu Mahasabha’s Karnataka state president Rajesh Pavithran was arrested on Wednesday by Surathkal police on the charges of threatening to leak the private information of a businessman on social media, officials said.

(Representative Image)

According to police officials familiar with the development, Pavithran, 42, allegedly tried to extort gold and cash from the businessman identified as Suresh and threatened to make his private information public.

Suresh, a resident of Kavoor in Mangaluru, decided to do business with Pavithran on a partnership basis. “However, after coming to know about his dubious business deals, Suresh opted out,” police said.

Enraged by his withdrawal from the partnership, Pavithran took away Suresh’s laptop and threatened to leak his private information if he did not yield to the demand for gold and cash, according to police sources.

Pavithran was arrested based on the complaint filed by Suresh. He was produced before the and was later released on bail, police sources said.

The police have also registered a case against one Dr Sanija on the accusation of cooperating with Pavithran in the act.

Meanwhile, another Hindu Mahasabha leader Dharmendra slammed the arrest of Pavithran by the police claiming “unknown forces are behind this.”

“The Hindu Mahasabha is growing rapidly across the state. With elections around the corner, it looks like these people involved in this conspiracy are scared that this might affect the election results,” Dharmendra told reporters on Thursday.

He said, “Rajesh was arrested without any notice by the police. His family was also given no intimation regarding his arrest. A person who is the state president of Hindu Mahasabha, in such a high post, and had businesses in the heart of Surathkal, was given no notice. What kind of a system is this?”

Dharmendra further said that attempts are being made to lodge petty cases against us. “Let the police file 100 cases against us. This is an attempt to thwart us. Hindu Mahasabha will give unexpected results in the upcoming elections and teach a lesson to the ruling BJP,” he added.