Hemanth had allegedly demanded Rs 50 lakh claiming he had a sex tape of the legislator.
The Bengaluru Police have arrested the Managing Director of Kannada news channel Focus TV on Sunday for allegedly blackmailing a BJP MLA. The Central Crime Branch sleuths arrested Hemanth M Kammar for allegedly blackmailing Mahadevapura MLA Aravind Limbavali by alleging he had a sex tape of the legislator.
According to the CCB sleuths, Hemanth had demanded Rs 50 lakh from the legislator. A resident of Yelahanka New Town, he had launched the channel in 2018.
Police say that on May 2, Girish Bharadwaj MLA Limbavali’s assistant filed a complaint with DCP Whitefield Abdul Ahad. Bengaluru Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar transferred the case to CCB.
According to CCB sources, Hemanth had shut down the channel a few months ago due to severe losses. However, Hemanth had allegedly been blackmailing MLA Limbavali since February 10 this year.
“There was an explicit and morphed video of the MLA which was uploaded by a man named Raghu Mourya on Facebook in May 2018. He took it down but in February this year, Hemanth called up MLA Limbavali and told him that he had a video that would compromise his reputation and that the Chief Minister’s office was pressuring him to give them copies of the video,” the police said.
Police suspect that Hemanth was trying to extort money from the MLA in order to be able to pay off the people he owed money to as the news channel was running under severe loss.
“He told the MLA that a man named Satish from the CMO wanted the video and that the BBMP corporators from Congress and JD(S) and even the Anti-Corruption Bureau sleuths wanted copies of the video so it could be leaked to the media. He blackmailed MLA Limbavali and told him that he would destroy the video if he paid up Rs 50 lakh,” the police added.
Police say that MLA Limbavali’s assistant called Hemanth on February 11 and asked him why he needed the money. However, Hemanth allegedly told Girish that he had obligations to fulfil. “Girish has claimed that the video is morphed. We have arrested Hemanth and are currently questioning him. However, we suspect that he wanted the money to start the channel once again and so he decided to blackmail the MLA,” the police added.
Hemanth has been booked under sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 384 (extortion), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 204 (destruction of documents) of the Indian Penal Code and also under various sections of the IT Act. He was produced before the magistrate and is currently in police custody.
Agencies
