News channel CEO held for using sting operations to blackmail politicians
Ghaziabad: Breaking a nexus of extortions and blackmails on the basis of sting operations, Ghaziabad Police on Monday said that Umesh Kumar Sharma, CEO of Hindi news channel Samachar Plus, has been sent to judicial remand till November 8, after he was arrested on Sunday.
He had allegedly persuaded one of his employee to conduct a sting operation on politicians, including the Chief Minister.
Sources said that a few years ago, Sharma had allegedly bribed senior members of the managing committee of Press Club of India (PCI) to gain membership. He also had alleged dubious links with some politicians.
"Sharma was arrested from his Ghaziabad residence after raids were conducted at his office in Noida and residence in Ghaziabad," said a senior Uttar Pradesh Police official.
Sharma was arrested following a complaint against him by Ayush Gaud, a journalist of the channel who accused Sharma of threatening to eliminate him as he failed to do a sting operation on prominent politicians and senior bureaucrats of UP, police said.
The FIR accuses Sharma and four others of conducting sting operations on senior politicians and bureaucrats with the purpose of blackmailing and extorting money from them. A case has been registered against Sharma under sections 386, 388 and 120B of the IPC, a police official said.
"Rs 39.73 lakh in cash, $16,279 and 11,030 Thai Baht besides a number of mobile phones, hard disc, pen drives, memory cards, i-Pad, laptop and camera have been seized from Sharma's office and residence," a police statement said.
Samachar Plus, which has operations in Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh, was in the limelight in 2016 when it did a sting operation on then Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat.
A clip purportedly showed Rawat negotiating a deal to bribe disgruntled lawmakers and buy their support ahead of a floor test in the state assembly.
Meanwhile, PCI secretary Vinay Kumar said that as per rules, Kumar's membership of Kumar will be terminated.
