Woman among three arrested for blackmailing BJP leader

Rajkot: Three including a woman and a local journalist were arrested on Friday for blackmailing a BJP leader with the threat of making his photographs and video showing his intimate moments with the woman viral on the social media in Surendranagar.
The accused were identified as Hina Bawaji, a resident of Ratanpar locality of Surendranagar, Ashok Rami, a Vadhwan-based journalist, and Anirudhdh Chauhan, a resident of 80-foot Road in Surendranagar.

They were arrested on the complaint of Vanrajsinh Jadav, general secretary of Lakhtar taluka BJP.

In his complaint, Jadav alleged that Bawaji had befriended him under the pretext of seeking his help to solve a land dispute. After several meetings, Bawaji trapped Jadav in a romantic relationship and had the photographs and video clips of their intimate moments allegedly clicked and recorded, while they were on an excursion to Sarangpur in Botad district and at her home in Ratanpar.

“Then Bawaji, Rami and Chauhan hatched a conspiracy to blackmail Jadav. Giving him frequent calls, they demanded Rs 60 lakh from him after threatening him to make the photographs and video clips viral on the social media. Tired of this, Jadav approached us with the complaint. We asked Jadav to call the accused at a milk dairy in Vadhwan and laid a trap, leading to their arrest,” said an official from B division police station.