The Noida Police arrested the founder of a local news outlet and two others for allegedly extorting money from a person by threatening him to publish fake news against him if he didn’t pay the money.
The accused have been identified as Pankaj Parashar, who runs the news portal Tricity Today and Uttar Pradesh Times, and his associates Dev Sharma, and Awadhesh Sisodia, residents of Greater Noida.
Police said that Parashar, who is the president of the Noida Media Club, Sharma and Sisodia are part of the gang of Ravi Nagar alias Ravi Kana, who is currently in jail for allegedly extorting money and material from scrap dealers by threatening them.
The accused were running an extortion racket by threatening people that they would publish fake news against them, police said. On November 8, 2024, they called one Manoj Kumar near Pari Chowk on the pretext of getting a byte from him for a news report.
However, when Kumar met them, they allegedly demanded money from him and threatened to publish fake news against him if he didn’t pay the money. The accused even allegedly threatened to kill by hiring a shooter if they didn’t pay the money, police said.
Kumar lodged a complaint with the police, following which the accused were arrested.
The police have recovered Rs 6.3 lakh in cash from them along with two cars and 14 registration certificates (RC) of cars attached to the Ravi Kana gang and documents from their possession.
They further said that around 15 to 20 suspicious bank accounts were recovered from the accused, which were allegedly being used for illegal transactions by the Kana gang.
“Their call records show that they have had conversations with Ravi Kana,” police said.
All three accused have been sent to judicial custody for 14 days and further investigation is on, police said.
(With inputs from Arun Tyagi)