India TV channel's engineer & freelance journalist allegedly trying to extort money from a Unani doctor

-TheIndianExpress:
New Delhi: The three had allegedly filmed a Unani doctor giving allopathic medicines to a patient. They demanded Rs 5 lakh from him, police said Police arrested two computer engineers of India TV news channel and a freelance reporter on Friday night for allegedly trying to extort money from a Unani doctor.

The three had allegedly filmed the doctor giving allopathic medicines to a patient. This happened a day after a city court directed police to record the statement of a south Delhi auto garage owner who had accused the head of an NGO and a reporter each from India TV and ABP News for allegedly attempting to extort Rs 20 lakh by threatening to air an alleged sex tape on the channels.

Police on Saturday said Sachin Mishra (35), IT manager with India TV, Saurabh Tripathi (22), a system administrator with the same channel, and freelance reporter Himanshu Tripathi (30) were arrested following the doctor’s complaint.

India TV said Mishra and Saurabh Tripathi were not from the channel’s editorial team, and Himanshu Tripathi was not associated with the channel.

“The main accused claiming to be the reporter in this case is not an employee of India TV, nor is he in any way connected with us. The other two named in the FIR are not journalists and are not related to the editorial department. They work in our computer section. We have suspended them with immediate effect. We have instituted an internal inquiry. There is certainly no place in the organisation for such people,” Puneet Tandon, general manager (administration and human resource) of India TV, said.

Police said Unani doctor Mahesh Kumar Gumbadh visited Mandawli police station on November 9 and complained that he was being blackmailed by mediapersons who claimed to have made a video of him giving allopathic medicines to a patient.

“They demanded Rs 5 lakh. On November 9, a trap was set and the mediapersons were called to a hospital in Mayur Vihar. They were told that they would be paid Rs 1.5 lakh for a pen drive containing the clip. Our team caught Saurabh Tripathi when he reached there to collect the money. He helped us locate the other two,” DCP (East) Prabhakar said in a statement.