Kakinada: Six persons, claiming to be reporters, were arrested on Thursday by Ravulapalem police for obstructing a rice load vehicle and demanding a bribe of Rs two lakh from the property owner, while threatening them that the rice belonged to Public Distribution System (PDS).
Amalapuram DSP Y.Madhava Reddy told the media here on Thursday that Akondi Veera Venkata Satyanarayana Murthy, Chirra Nagaraju, Ayinavilli Vijayababu, Undurthi Ravi Kumar, Palivela Raju, Ummidisetty Venkateswara Rao and Ch.Rajendra Prasad claiming that they were reporters working for print and electronic media and stopped a lorry that which was carrying rice to Kakinada port from Komerapudi in Sattenapalli mandal of Guntur district on the early hours of Wednesday near Ravulapalem.
They directed the driver to get down from the lorry and show the way-bills. When the driver showed the bills, they told him that the rice belonged to PDS. They rang up the clerk of the property owner and demanded a bribe of Rs. two lakh, failing which the lorry would be seized and the owner sent to jail. The property owner P. Gangadhara Reddy lodged a complaint with Ravulapalem police.
Madhava Reddy said that they had arrested the six persons while one accused Ch. Rajendra Prasad was at large. He said that four mobikes and seven mobile phones were seized from the accused.
Ravulapalem additional sub-inspector R.B.Raju said that during interrogation, the accused confessed and pointed out that they had committed three such offences.
