Gang of ‘reporters’ arrested for extortion

FAISALABAD: A gang which employed the name of a private television channel to extort money from citizens was arrested on Wednesday.

According to police officials, the four member gang had extorted money from dozens of people by pretending to be media personnel. “They told the people they would speak about their problems and plead their cases on television for money,” inspector Khurram said. Police officials said that the gang had been operating in Faisalabad, Quetta and Sukkur. The gang had also extorted money from several hotels. When citizens complained, a reporter from a private television channel pretended to be in need of assistance and approached the gang. They promised to help him if he paid them Rs50,000 and asked him to meet them in a hotel. When they came to meet him they were handed over to the police. All four men were carrying equipment bearing the logo of a television channel as well as a fake office card. The group leader was a former deputy director of a famous programme. An application has been registered against the men.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th,  2011.