KOCHI: Two persons, including a woman, who tried to extort money from a Mattanchery lodge owner, were arrested on Saturday. It is believed that the duo – Fort Kochi resident Shajahan alias Shaji, 25, and Mattanchery native Rinsina, 29 – has extorted money from several other hotel and lodge owners earlier. The police said Rinsina is in an extramarital affair with Shaji, an autorickshaw driver. They were arrested based on the complaint by the lodge owner.
“A few weeks ago, they rented a room in the Mattanchery lodge and ordered food from there. A few days after vacating the room, they got admitted to a private hospital for food poisoning. Last week, Shaji called the owner and alleged that they fell sick after consuming food from there. He threatened to lodge a complaint,” said VU Kuriakose, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Kochi. Mattanchery ACP V G Ravindranath said fearing consequences, the lodge owner agreed to a settlement.
“Shaji then asked him to come to the hospital. When the complainant and his friend entered Shaji’s hospital room, Shaji and Rinsina locked the door and he took photographs of Rinsina and the complainant together. Shaji then blackmailed him. When the complainant refused to pay the money, the duo snatched his wallet and ID card,” Ravindranath said. As per the complainant, he escaped from the room and lodged a complaint with Kochi City Police Commissioner C H Nagaraju.