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Woman goes to Bhopal doctor’s clinic. He gets blackmailed; 2 arrested
The group of five includes a woman who later filed a cross-complaint against the doctor, accusing him of molesting her.
Two men, part of a group of five, have been arrested on a charge of trying to blackmail a city doctor after recording what they claimed was a sting operation for a news channel, police said. The two have been identified as Banalal Singh Rajput, 40, who claimed to be a journalist with a TV news channel, and his associate, Awadhesh Sharma, 33.
The group of five includes a woman who later filed a cross-complaint against the doctor, accusing him of molesting her.
She was the one who went to Bhopal orthopedist Dr Deepak Maravi’s clinic at his residence for consultation on Saturday evening, according to a police statement. She was still inside when four men including Banalal Rajput and Awadhesh Sharma barged in. They were recording a video.
Police said they attempted to blackmail him, threatening to post the video, which they claimed would embarrass him, on social media if he did not pay ₹50 lakh. They later took him to another location to pressurise him into agreeing to pay up.
Dr Maravi, however, filed a police complaint the next day. The two suspects were arrested and the car they had used to abduct the doctor seized, police said.
Additional superintendent of police Gopal Dhakad said the news channel editor Banalal Singh Rajput and Awadhesh Sharma were produced before a magistrate on Monday and remanded in judicial custody. The police are looking for the other accused.
On Sunday evening, the woman turned up at the crime branch office with her father and accused the doctor of misbehaving with her. On her complaint, an FIR was lodged against the doctor for use of criminal force on a woman to outrage her modesty and. Both cases will be investigated meticulously, Gopal Dhakad said. He added that the police would also look into the credentials of the accused who claimed to journalists.
