NOIDA: A girl who worked for a now-defunct Hindi news channel has been arrested for allegedly looking to extort Rs 2 crore from Union minister Mahesh Sharma and threatening to leak a video where he can also be noticed pronouncing “code phrases”.
The woman, Nishu, had come to meet the minister on Monday afternoon. She carried a letterhead of the channel she worked for, Pratinidhi, and allegedly made the demand for cash on behalf of her former employer, Alok Kumar. While Nishu has been arrested, police are looking for Alok. The role of Usha Thakur, granddaughter of veteran Hindi poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, could also be being probed.
Police stated the 20-minute video had been recorded in Sharma’s administrative center on March 24 this yr. Alok had it seems that recognized himself as the landlord of an IT company and sought an appointment with Sharma sooner than the Lok Sabha elections. In the clip, Alok can reportedly be noticed telling Sharma — the BJP candidate for Gautam Budh Nagar — that his corporate would supply logistical beef up to the minister for his campaign trails. Sharma tells Alok not to take names but use simplest “code phrases”.
Police, then again, did not proportion the video with the media.
The minister stated Alok had been introduced to him through Usha Thakur and in line with police officers, he wanted to behavior a sting operation on Sharma. Police stated there is not any mention of any amount of cash in the video, but Alok had caught on the “code phrases” part of the dialog to extort the minister. Nishu is assumed to have instructed the police officers all over interrogation that they had extorted other politicians in a identical way.
“Around 1.30pm, minister Sharma known as me as much as say that a person has been looking to blackmail him and extort a big amount. He used to be requested at hand over Rs 45 lakh on Monday and the remainder amount through Wednesday. If the cash used to be not paid, they threatened to leak a video in their possession,” SSP Vaibhav Krishna stated.
“The video displays the minister in dialog. We have questioned the girl and she has admitted to have blackmailed people like this. The news channel known as Pratinidhi used to be closed down after demonetisation. There appears to be an organised nexus which objectives influential people,” he added.
Police stated Alok used to be in financial crunch after his news channel shut down and used to be looking for techniques to make simple cash.
Sharma held a news conference on Monday night time to give an explanation for what had came about on March 24, when Alok had come to meet him.
“He recognized himself as the CEO of a company known as Rachna IT resolution. Usha Thakur, whom I respect as an elder sister and with whom I've been associated for the previous 30 years, used to be additionally provide. He stated his corporate would assist me in the poll campaign and provide about 60 managers and 150-300 workers to back me. I introduced him to my brother Ajay,” the minister stated.
Sharma instructed the inside track conference he were given a decision on April nine where Alok recognized himself as the landlord of Pratinidhi and instructed him that the March 24 assembly used to be if truth be told a sting. “He instructed me ‘I'm operating a channel known as Pratinidhi and it has suffered losses. If you add shares to my channel or purchase it, I will be able to run it’. He did not demand any cash and reduce the decision. At that time, Usha Thakur and KK Gautam (former IPS officer) used to be with him,” Sharma stated.
“Today, KK Gautam, Usha Thakur and the girl came to my brother Ajay’s administrative center. The woman stated the channel’s CEO had sent them with the letter,” he added. The minister additionally performed a recording of the phone calls to buttress his claims. Usha Thakur, who has been detained, denied all the allegations. “I just introduced Alok to him. When I learnt that it used to be a sting, I instantly alerted the minister,” she stated.
The woman, Nishu, had come to meet the minister on Monday afternoon. She carried a letterhead of the channel she worked for, Pratinidhi, and allegedly made the demand for cash on behalf of her former employer, Alok Kumar. While Nishu has been arrested, police are looking for Alok. The role of Usha Thakur, granddaughter of veteran Hindi poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, could also be being probed.
Police stated the 20-minute video had been recorded in Sharma’s administrative center on March 24 this yr. Alok had it seems that recognized himself as the landlord of an IT company and sought an appointment with Sharma sooner than the Lok Sabha elections. In the clip, Alok can reportedly be noticed telling Sharma — the BJP candidate for Gautam Budh Nagar — that his corporate would supply logistical beef up to the minister for his campaign trails. Sharma tells Alok not to take names but use simplest “code phrases”.
Police, then again, did not proportion the video with the media.
The minister stated Alok had been introduced to him through Usha Thakur and in line with police officers, he wanted to behavior a sting operation on Sharma. Police stated there is not any mention of any amount of cash in the video, but Alok had caught on the “code phrases” part of the dialog to extort the minister. Nishu is assumed to have instructed the police officers all over interrogation that they had extorted other politicians in a identical way.
“Around 1.30pm, minister Sharma known as me as much as say that a person has been looking to blackmail him and extort a big amount. He used to be requested at hand over Rs 45 lakh on Monday and the remainder amount through Wednesday. If the cash used to be not paid, they threatened to leak a video in their possession,” SSP Vaibhav Krishna stated.
“The video displays the minister in dialog. We have questioned the girl and she has admitted to have blackmailed people like this. The news channel known as Pratinidhi used to be closed down after demonetisation. There appears to be an organised nexus which objectives influential people,” he added.
Police stated Alok used to be in financial crunch after his news channel shut down and used to be looking for techniques to make simple cash.
Sharma held a news conference on Monday night time to give an explanation for what had came about on March 24, when Alok had come to meet him.
“He recognized himself as the CEO of a company known as Rachna IT resolution. Usha Thakur, whom I respect as an elder sister and with whom I've been associated for the previous 30 years, used to be additionally provide. He stated his corporate would assist me in the poll campaign and provide about 60 managers and 150-300 workers to back me. I introduced him to my brother Ajay,” the minister stated.
Sharma instructed the inside track conference he were given a decision on April nine where Alok recognized himself as the landlord of Pratinidhi and instructed him that the March 24 assembly used to be if truth be told a sting. “He instructed me ‘I'm operating a channel known as Pratinidhi and it has suffered losses. If you add shares to my channel or purchase it, I will be able to run it’. He did not demand any cash and reduce the decision. At that time, Usha Thakur and KK Gautam (former IPS officer) used to be with him,” Sharma stated.
“Today, KK Gautam, Usha Thakur and the girl came to my brother Ajay’s administrative center. The woman stated the channel’s CEO had sent them with the letter,” he added. The minister additionally performed a recording of the phone calls to buttress his claims. Usha Thakur, who has been detained, denied all the allegations. “I just introduced Alok to him. When I learnt that it used to be a sting, I instantly alerted the minister,” she stated.
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April 23, 2019
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