Some scooter riders are allegedly using mobile phones and cameras to blackmail and extort members of the public in the Gund neighbourhood.
Srinagar, September 9: Two “self-styled journalists” were detained on Saturday in the Gund region of the Ganderbal district of central Kashmir on charges of extortion.
Gulzar Ahmed Kasana, son of Abdul Rehman Kasana of Surfraw Gund, filed a written complaint with Police Station Gund alleging that two unknown persons claiming to be journalists had shown up at his home in Surfraw and demanded a bribe of Rs 5,000 from him because he is building a residential house there.
He said that the two men had taken cash totaling Rs 500 from him, demanded that he pay the remaining Rs 4,500 within two days, and then threatened to demolish his home if he did not comply.
According to the statement, the so-called journalists were apprehended by a police party commanded by PSI Jameel Ahmad of PS Gund and supervised by SDPO Kangan Muzaffar Jan.
He named Sohail Maqbool, son of Mohd Maqbool Mir, a resident of Bamiluna Kangan, and Kaiser Farooq, son of Farooq Ahmed Mir, a resident of Cheerwan Kangan, as the two so-called journalists.
The spokeswoman for Gund added that there have been reports of blackmail and extortion by individuals riding scooters while carrying mobile phones and cameras.
The couple has been accused of blackmailing several people who have gone to the police and filed a complaint (FIR No. 53/2023) under the applicable parts of the law at PS Gund.
