Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Extortion attempt lands labourer behind bars

HYDERABAD: A labourer M. Paramesh landed behind bars after his attempt to extort money from a builder’s father claiming to be naxalite, boomeranged on Thursday.

Hailing from Boddada of Warangal district, the accused sent a letter to builder Srinivasa Raju’s father Rama Raju, 72, three days ago demanding Rs. 3 lakh towards party fund, K.V. Ramnarasimha Reddy of the Commissioner’s Task Force (West) told reporters.

The 25-year-old accused maintained that he was the squad commander of CPI-ML Praja Pratighatana (Chandra Pulla Reddy group).

Paramesh and his family members had come to the city to find employment and were living in a roadside hut at Madhapur. As his father suffered paralysis and the meagre daily wages he earned were not enough to make both ends meet, the youth plotted extortions. The idea of extorting money in the name of naxalites struck Paramesh because he knew some of his villagers, who came to city in search of livelihood and made money in this fashion. Paramesh used to meet them at L.B. Nagar. “He collected a letter printed in the name of naxalites by his villager R. Sriramulu, who was arrested subsequently,” the Inspector explained. He personally went to the target’s house at Banjara Hills, gave the letter to the watchman and started making threatening calls a day later. Alerted by the builder, the Task Force officials laid a trap and picked up Paramesh when he came to Secunderabad area to collect money from the builder.

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