Two journalist arrested while accepting ransom from a man; Rs 2 lakh and mobile phones seized

Mangaon: The local criminal investigation branch and Goregaon police have nabbed two journalists for threatening a person by defaming him by publishing his news.  A total of Rs 2 lakh 33,800 in cash and two mobiles have been seized from the accused. A case has been registered against the two accused at Goregaon police station.

Plaintiff Ramesh Bhoja Shetty (resident of Pune)  took advantage of the Prime Minister Fisheries Conservation Scheme but did not implement it on his 28 acre farm in Mauje Shilim (Tal. Mangaon). When the accused got to know about this, Bhiva Pawar and Rajan Patil threatened the man to defame him by filing an RTI application and publishing the same on a news platform. In return, the accused demanded Rs 5 lakh. The complainant agreed to pay Rs 2 lakh as a compromise and lodged a ransom complaint against the two.

Navale, an assistant police inspector of the local criminal investigation branch, and a team set a trap at Lonere (Tal. Mangaon) on the Mumbai-Goa highway within the limits of Goregaon police station and arrested both the accused while accepting a ransom of Rs 2 lakh from the complainant.

Both the accused have been working as teachers at Saraswati Vidyamandir, Vadghar Mudre, (Tal. Mangaon) since 2007, and working as representatives of a news channel.