Two people, including a lady, posing as journalists were arrested by Chandigarh police on Thursday after a shopkeeper filed a complaint that they had demanded extortion money of Rs15,000 from him. The duo was running an extortion racket for several years posing as journalists of a Hindi national news channel. They would extort money from victims by threatening to expose them in the media, said Surjeet Singh Malik, DSP/UT police.
The accused Puneet Dhingra and Disha, both residents of Meerut, on Wednesday went to a grocery shop here at Sector 56 and introduced themselves as journalists of a Hindi channel. They told the shopkeeper that they have made his video selling adulterated cooking oil in his shop. They demanded extortion of Rs15,000 from him for not broadcasting the video on their channel.
However, the shopkeeper Ishwar Chand, called them to take the money on Thursday and also informed police about their demands. Both the accused were arrested during a special trap laid by police while accepting money from the complainant.
An FIR against both the accused has been registered under Sections 420, 384 and 120-B of the IPC for extortion and criminal intimidation. Meanwhile police have also recovered their fake Identity cards of news channels from their possession. Both the accused on Friday will be produced in the district court for further investigation, added Malik.