The Puthukkadai police have arrested eight persons who, posing as reporters, threatened a finance firm owner and tried to extort ₹1 lakh from him.
The police said a group of people, which introduced itself as reporters of Neethivalai magazine, met finance firm owner Justin Raj and threatened him that he was collecting exorbitant interest for the loan his firm gives to its customers. They demanded ₹1 lakh from him for not publishing the news against him and his firm.
When Mr. Raj refused, the gang robbed him of ₹5,000 and fled the spot. Based on a complaint from Mr. Raj, the Puthukkadai police registered a case and identified the gang members as Antony, 51, of Kulasekaram, Sunil, 33, of Kollencode, Lal, 36, of Karuvaavilai, Selvaraja, 37, of Aatrankarai, Suresh Gopi, 52, of Kanniyakumari, Belvin Jose, 41, of Thiruvattar, Manikandan, 38, of Keezha Peruvilai and Sahaya Bosco, 58, of Chinna Muttom and arrested them on Monday. The police seized fake identity cards from them.
Superintendent of Police Stalin has warned that anyone extorting money from the public, private firms, government employees, schools, colleges and so on in the guise of reporters would be arrested. He appealed to the public to inform the police immediately if they were threatened by anyone posing as “reporters”.
Published – March 04, 2025 08:35 pm IST
