Adarsh Jha (L) and Shazia Nisar (R).
Noida, Uttar Pradesh: Police have arrested two former journalists for an alleged extortion attempt on Tuesday in Noida. The accused, identified as Shazia Nisar and Adarsh Jha, allegedly threatened officials of a private news channel, demanding a huge sum of money using false sexual harassment allegations, flagging media corruption concerns.
According to the complaint filed by the channel’s management, the accused initially demanded Rs 5 crore, which they later increased to Rs 65 crore. Police have collected details and evidence, including audio and video recordings of the threats made by the accused. The duo allegedly run a blackmail and extortion syndicate.
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The accused, a former female anchor at a private news channel and an anchor in the digital department of a separate media organisation, reportedly blackmailed the victims with a Rs 65-crore demand, as per the preliminary interrogation.
After initiating a probe, police arrested the duo based on the complaint. Officials also recovered Rs 34.50 lakh in cash from Shazia Nisar’s residence during a raid before his arrest. Both the accused have been presented in court by the Noida police and have been sent to 14-day judicial custody.
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The accused have been charged with extorting large sums of money from the management of the news channel after blackmailing the channel’s management, according to Amit Kumar, in charge of Sector 58 Police Station. Shazia allegedly threatened to implicate several officials of channel in rape case, demanding 65 crore, while Adarsh Jha supported her.
To determine any other person’s involvement, an investigation is underway.
