Two persons from Namakkal district held for extorting money from fireworks shopkeeper near Sattur
Two individuals were arrested in Tamil Nadu for attempting to extort money from a fireworks shopkeeper by posing as magazine reporters. The suspects threatened the shopkeeper with legal action regarding banned firecrackers before being caught by local business owners.
Why it matters
This incident highlights the risks of extortion faced by small business owners and the role of community vigilance in preventing such crimes.
Two persons from Namakkal district, S. Murugan, and P. Anantharaj, were arrested on charges of extortion against a fireworks shop owner, L. Saravanaperumal, on Saturday.
The police said that the accused had gone to the fireworks shop in a car and asked for joined crackers. They had sought 100-wala and 1,000-wala.
As the shopkeeper showed them both the products, one of them stealthily took photographs and videographed the products.
Later, they claimed that they were reporters of a magazine and questioned Saravanaperumal as to how he could possess the banned joined crackers.
They allegedly told him that they were deputed by the Special Tahsildar, Matches and Fireworks for monitoring the fireworks shops about selling banned fireworks goods.
The accused claimed that he had lodged a complaint and very soon his shop would be sealed.
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