Three held for 'misusing' BJP leader Annamalai's name to extort Rs 10 lakh from man

Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu), Oct 6 (PTI) Three persons were arrested on Monday for allegedly "misusing" the names of BJP leaders, including former Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai, to extort Rs 10 lakh from a man here, police said.

The arrested have been identified as Thirumoorthy (55), Rasukutty (23) and Gokul (26), all residents of Annur.

Police have registered a case under Section 308 (dealing with extortion) and Section 304 (dealing with intimidation) of the BNS.

According to police, the complainant, Arunachalam, a resident of Kumarapalayam in Annur, was approached by the three accused when he was struggling with paperwork to claim insurance following an accident.

The three had helped him file his insurance claim and the company had awarded the complainant Rs 50 lakh. The accused had then insisted that Rs 10 lakh should be paid to them as they had taken the help of BJP leaders, including Annamalai, for processing the paperwork.

"But when the complainant tried to document the transaction, the trio objected to it, saying they would make things difficult for him with the help of their BJP politician friends," said the police official.

Arunachalam had initially put out a post on his social media pages before lodging a complaint with the police on October 5, said police sources.

Meanwhile, Annamalai had lodged a complaint with Annur Police seeking action against the three men.

"He (Annamalai) has claimed in his complaint that he has nothing to do with those three men," a police official told PTI.

Annur Police is yet to register Annamalai's complaint as the investigation is still ongoing in the original case, the official said. PTI JR KH