Mysuru: The Mysuru city police have arrested a journalist named Pradeep (28), a resident of the K R Mohalla area of the city, for allegedly blackmailing local BJP MLA S A Ramadas.
According to the police, Pradeep was arrested by the Kuvempunagar police while he was receiving Rs 50,000 in cash from an associate of Ramadas.
Sources say that Pradeep was running a tabloid and had demanded a sum of Rs 25 lakhs to stop the circulation of a recent edition in which a defamatory article was written on Ramadas.
They added that seven persons, including a doctor, were allegedly involved in the blackmail. The police are now on the hunt for the others involved.
Meanwhile, Ramadas has informed that he was not able to campaign ahead of the Lok Sabha elections as he was being blackmailed by the journalist.