UP: 6 BJP MLAs file complaints for receiving extortion messages

Lucknow: At least six BJP MLAs in Uttar Pradesh have filed police complaints that they have been receiving extortion messages on their phones asking them to deposit Rs 10 lakh in the sender's account lest their families would be eliminated, police said on May 23.

The six lawmakers have lodged separate FIRs claiming that they have received these threat messages over the past couple of days and the sender, who happens to be the same person in all the cases, has demanded the money be paid within three days, they said.

The MLAs who claimed to have received the messages are: Veer Vikram Singh (Meeranpur Katra, Shahjahanpur), Prem Narayan Pandey (Tarabganj, Gonda), Vinay Kumar Dwivedi (Mehnuan, Gonda), Vinod Katiyar (Bhognipur, Kanpur), Shahshank Trivedi (Maholi, Sitapur) and Anita Rajput (Debai in Bulandshahr).

"I got WhatsApp messages and calls demanding Rs 10 lakh. The sender said if I did not pay the money my family members will be eliminated," Katiyar told PTI. 

The MLAs have complained about receiving similar threats and in all the cases, the sender's name is stated as Ali Budesh Bhai from Dubai, said Pravin Kumar, the DIG (Law and Order). He said a detailed investigation is being carried out but prima facie it looks like an act of mischief. 'The help of Special Task Force is also being taken wherever required and the case will be solved very soon and guilty punished," he said.

Anand Kumar, the ADG (Law and Order), said it looks like a planned conspiracy to create panic. There is no need to panic though, he said. "The security of the MLAs, as well as their relatives, is being reviewed."