BENGALURU: Jeevan Bima Nagar police investigating the extortion case involving a spa on 100 Feet Road in Indiranagar, arrested a woman news anchor who used to work with Kannada news channels. The accused, Divya Vasantha, was arrested in Kerala on Thursday. She has also participated in a few Kannada reality and comedy shows on television.
Divya was on the run since July 1. This is the third arrest in the case. Earlier, police had arrested R Venkatesh (52) who claimed to be the CEO of a vernacular news channel, and Vasantha’s brother Sandesh.
H Shivashankar, manager of the spa, had filed a complaint on July 1. The accused had approached the manager, claiming they had proof that the spa was running a prostitution racket.
On June 29, the accused demanded Rs 8 lakh from the manager to stop them from airing videos on their news channel. The gang, which is part of an organised racket, is said to have extorted money from a few other spas in the city. Four complaints were already registered against Venkatesh at various police stations in the city. Venkatesh is at present in judicial custody.
On June 21, a woman from a North East state joined the spa at the behest of Venkatesh and Vasantha.
Then Sandesh visited the spa in the guise of a customer for a jacuzzi massage. He reportedly made a video with the woman, who was sent by the other two accused. The video was made to show that the spa was running a prostitution racket.
The accused showed the video to the manager and demanded money. The initial demand was Rs 15 lakh. When the manager agreed to pay Rs 1 lakh, the accused demanded at least Rs 8 lakh. The accused had created a WhatsApp group called ‘Spy Research Team’ to discuss ideas of extortion. They were active for six months. Further investigations are on.