Hyderabad: Three persons, including two reporters, working for local news channels, were booked for extortion by Jeedimetla police. The trio had allegedly posed as Special Operations Team (SOT) personnel and took money from a belt shop owner.
The arrested men are Syed Atif, 27, a resident of Sowbhagyanagar; Javed, 38, and Mohammad Mosin, 28, from Gurumurthynagar.
Atif and Javed were working as reporters for a television news channel in the old city. Based on a complaint from B. Kumara Swamy, 45, that three persons had approached his shop for money, a case was booked.
“They threatened him when he refused to pay that they were from the SOT and would arrest him,” said inspector C. Shanker Reddy of Jeedimetla. They left after the owner gave '1,300. Swamy realised that he was duped when his son pointed out anomalies in the appearance and behaviour of the men. “The two reporters were followed by Swamy’s son. He noted down their vehicle’s number and told his father,”added the inspector.
Police registered a case for extortion and seized the bike. The suspects were produced in court and remanded to judicial custody.
