Two transgender persons held for extortion of money in Chennai

The owner of a new restaurant on Rajiv Gandhi Salai complained that the two had extorted ₹10,000 from him

The city police have arrested two transgender persons for allegedly extorting money from shopkeepers on Rajiv Gandhi Salai, in the garb of begging.

Police said Vivekanandhan, 42, started a restaurant at the Nivetha Complex on Rajiv Gandhi Salai 10 days ago. On the inaugural day, a large number of customers thronged the restaurant. Two transgender persons also came to the place and demanded money from him on the pretext of blessing and performing special prayers for good business. He first denied them money, however after the duo abused him in the presence of new customers, he relented and gave them ₹5,000.

The duo placed the money on the ground in front of the shop and were seen to be performing some prayers. They then demanded ₹5,000 more. Vivekanandan refused, and tried to take back the money he had given to them. They prevented him from doing so, became abusive and even violent and forcibly took ₹5,000 from the cash box and the ₹5,000 they had first been given and left.

Vivekanandhan complained to the Kannagi Nagar police. Crime Inspector Kalaichelvi took up the matter for investigation and identified the suspects after scrutiny of CCTV footage. Police arrested the duo who were identified as Aswini, 22, and Chitra, 27.

“This is quite regular -- transwomen used to visit shops and commercial establishments on Fridays demanding money from the owners of shops on the pretext of blessing them to bring in more wealth. If denied, they become abusive and violent. Most victims are embarrassed by this and do not complain to the police,” said a senior police.