Surat: Udhna police on Wednesday arrested 10 more individuals who were posing as journalists, in connection with a ₹22 lakh extortion case. This follows the arrest of the main suspect, Prakash Rathod, whose diary revealed payments made to 25 individuals, allegedly journalists, via UPI, cheques, and cash.

Upon further investigation, police confirmed that at least 10 of them had received money, leading to their arrests. The arrested individuals include Dharmesh Vaghela, Satish Kubhale, Jigish Sosa, Bharat Virade, Naresh Parmar, Hitesh Rathod, Jayesh Chauhan, Sangam Pandey, Avdhesh Tiwari, and Jayanti Vadher. They were reportedly associated with weekly newspapers and YouTube news channels. The group is accused of extorting money from industrialists by threatening them with complaints about illegal construction and the potential demolition of their properties.

The case involves the extortion of industrialist Alpesh Ghelani. Prakash Rathod reportedly demanded ₹30 lakh, settled on ₹25.21 lakh, and ultimately received ₹22 lakh. Udhna police are currently verifying the legitimacy of the accused journalists and their ties to any registered publications. So far, ₹12 lakh of the extorted amount has been recovered, and further arrests are anticipated as the investigation progresses.

According to the police, Bharat has been booked in seven cases, including robbery, extortion, and illegal liquor. Avdhesh Tiwari has been booked in four extortion cases. When police went to arrest Sangam Pandey at his residence, he locked the house from the outside and hid inside. Upon breaking the lock and checking the house, police found him hiding inside a drum placed on a loft above the bathroom. The accused was caught after officers heard the drum moving. DeshGujarat