Bhopal News: Extortion Bid From Hospital Owner On RTI Pretext, Case Registered

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Three men reportedly threatened a private hospital operator by posing as RTI activists and environmentalists and demanded Rs 10 lakh from a hospital operator.

Nishatpura police on Sunday registered a case against Neeraj Yadav, Akshay Sharma and Dhanraj Rajput on charges of extortion and under the provisions of SC/ST Act. Further investigation is underway.

According to police, Navibagh resident Rajkumar Suryavanshi (38) runs a private hospital in Karond. On October 24 last year, accused Neeraj Yadav approached him claiming to be an RTI activist.

He alleged that information obtained through RTI revealed several shortcomings in the hospital and warned that the hospital’s licence could be suspended. He then allegedly demanded Rs 10 lakh to ‘settle’ the matter.

On February 3, Neeraj Yadav returned along with his associates Akshay Sharma and Dhanraj Rajput. The trio met the complainant at a tea stall where they again discussed the payment. During the conversation, they allegedly agreed to reduce the demand to Rs 6 lakh.

However, Suryavanshi refused to pay money telling them to take whatever action they wished.

Following this, the accused allegedly abused him with caste-based remarks. Suryavanshi told police that the accused had been pressurising him for money since October.

He wanted to lodge a complaint earlier but lacked evidence. He then recorded a video of the accused on his mobile phone during their conversation. He submitted the video recording to the police along with a formal complaint.