Three editors of religious magazines landed behind bars on Thursday here after they allegedly attempted to extort money from a woman officer of the noted Mahankali temple in Secunderabad.
The Mahankali police arrested S. Kumar, Vishweshwar Rao and Laxman Rao, editors of Devalayala Charitra (History of Temples), Praja Mitra (Public Friend) and Aalayaala Charitra (History of Temples) respectively.
The trio was accused of attempting to extort money from the woman executive officer of Mahankali temple (name withheld) in the guise of advertisements to their magazines.
“They approached the EO a few weeks ago demanding ads worth Rs. 25,000 for their magazines. The EO explained that ads for not more than Rs. 5,000 can be given to them,” Mahankali Inspector B. Ramesh said. Subsequently, the woman officer received a pamphlet with a write-up linking her to a State Cabinet Minister.
Following a complaint from her, the police registered a criminal case. “The pamphlet had the name of Kumar as publisher. Investigation revealed that he was facing two similar cases — one at Narayanaguda and other at Hayathnagar — in the city,” the Inspector said.
In the Hayathnagar case, the court punished him with a three-year jail term. He went for an appeal, after which the sentence was commuted to one year, the Inspector said. The trio was arrested and presented before a local court.
