TV journo in police custody for extorting Padma awardee

Television journalist Hemanth Kashyap on Wednesday remanded in four-day police custody in connection with an extortion case.

Kashyap, input chief at Public TV, was arrested on Tuesday by the Sadashivanagar police after Padma Shri awardee Dr Ramana Rao B accused him and other television reporters of blackmailing him with a fake sleaze video. Kashyap demanded Rs 50 lakh for not broadcasting the video. Worried about his reputation, Rao paid him Rs 5 lakh on three different occasions.

According to Rao, Kashyap had called him up on WhatsApp on March 5, saying he wants to speak to him. The same day around 4 pm, he came to Rao's Sadashivanagar clinic and introduced him as a television reporter. Kashyap told him about the video which, he claimed, was with five other television reporters.

On March 19, Manjunath, a journalist with Samaya TV, contacted Rao and demanded money, saying he, too, has the video. Rao then called up Kashyap and told him about Manjunath. Rao made it clear to Kashyap that he will pay him all the money he wants if he guarantees that no one else would later blackmail him with the video. When Kashyap turned up around 6.30 pm, Rao motioned to plainclothes police who quickly detained him.

Manjunath has, however, gone absconding. Police have confiscated his mobile phone and sent it to the CID's cybercrime cell for a detailed analysis. Police believe Kashyap is not a first-time offender and are reviewing his call detail record to dig more.