‘Honey trap’ gang arrested

The city police arrested a five-member gang, including a BJP leader and a woman, in a honey trap case in the city.

Kuvempunagar police arrested Naveen Neralakuppe, Shivaraju, Harish, Anitha and Viji.

The prime accused Naveen is a BJP worker in Periyapatna taluk and also maintains a good rapport with many leaders, including MLC A H Vishwanath. Naveen had served as Sangolli Rayanna Yuva Garjane district unit president.

According to the police, the gang allegedly honey trapped several high-profile people in parts of the state. The accused were arrested for trapping a BJP leader and a doctor by profession. The accused extorted Rs 31.50 lakh from the victim.

The gang had blackmailed the victim with a video and received ransom from him. The doctor approached the police when the gang demanded for more money and blackmailed him of making the video public, according to the police.

The accused were produced before the court and remanded to judicial custody.