BENGALURU: A 52-year-old CEO of a vernacular news channel has been arrested for allegedly trying to extort money from a well-known spa on Indiranagar 100 Feet Road. The complaint was filed by the manager of the spa.
The accused CEO, R Venkatesh, is a Rajanukunte resident. He was arrested by the Jeevan Bima Nagar police on the complaint filed by H Shivashankar on Monday. After the arrest, the police took him into custody for two-day police custody. He is now remanded in judicial custody.
“On June 21, a woman from a North Eastern state approached the spa seeking a job. She was hired on trial for 10 days. On June 26, a person identified as Sandesh reportedly booked a slot for jacuzzi massage.
As the new recruit was on trial, she was sent for the massage. After a 90-minute massage, Sandesh is said to have left paying Rs 7,500. Shockingly, the woman who massaged him stopped coming to work and had even switched off her mobile phone. The next day, three persons including a girl holding the channel’s mike entered the spa and asked for the owners or the manager. When the complainant introduced himself as the manager, they gave him the phone to talk to their CEO.
The CEO then sent an explicit video of Sandesh and the woman from North East, claiming that the spa was running a prostitution racket, and demanded Rs 15 lakh. The manager refused to give the money. The spa manager filed the complaint on Monday and the CEO was arrested, said an officer part of the investigation.