Mysore/Mysuru: A case has been registered at Lashkar Police Station against four persons for allegedly trying to blackmail a doctor and extort Rs. 3 lakh from him by posing themselves as journalists.

In a complaint, Dr. Debashish Haldhar who runs ‘Srihari Health Care’ on KRH Road in Lashkar Mohalla, has accused Srinidhi, Manjunath and two others of blackmailing and demanding Rs. 3 lakh from him. 

Dr. Haldhar offers treatment for piles and conducts Ayurveda Panchakarma at his clinic and is assisted by his brother,  Sanjeev Haldhar.

On July 19 at about 10 am, when Dr. Debashish had gone out to purchase medicines, he receives a call from his brother and returns to the clinic immediately. Upon his return, he sees two persons identified as Srinidhi and Manjunath in the clinic, who introduced themselves as journalists. They then ask the doctor to switch off the CCTV camera installed inside the clinic. The so called journalists then accuse the doctor of providing treatment illegally and threaten to file a Police case against him. 

At that time, a person who lives in a house adjacent to the clinic, asked the doctor to ‘adjust’ with the ‘journalists.’ Srinidhi and Manjunath claimed that they had videographed the clinic and would telecast the video if he (doctor) did not give them Rs. 3 lakh.

Srinidhi and Manjunath told the doctor that another doctor of a private hospital too had paid them money for offering treatment ‘illegally.’ They even said that they knew the District Health Officer and threatened of getting the clinic seized if he did not pay them. Finally, the amount was settled for Rs. 2.5 lakh and the doctor tells them that he would pay the money in the evening.

When the blackmailers came to his clinic to collect the money in the evening, the doctor expresses his inability to arrange the money and seeks two days time, to which the blackmailers, angered over the delay, shouted at the doctor for insulting them and tell him to keep the money with him besides telling him to expect a phone call from the Police Station and leave the clinic.

Based on the complaint lodged by Dr. Debashish, Lashkar Police have registered a case against Srinidhi, Manjunath, a cameraman and the neighbour under IPC Section 384, 385 and 34 and are investigating.