Himachal man held for extortion bid on Chhattisgarh minister

A 21-year-old man was arrested from Himachal Pradesh for allegedly posing as a CBI officer and calling a Chhattisgarh minister repeatedly demanding Rs 2 lakh in return for not implicating the latter in a case, police said here on Tuesday.

Ankush Sharma, a resident of Kuffer village in HP's Shimla, called Chhattisgarh Industry and Excise Minister Kawasi Lakhma on December 20 claiming the CBI had received a complaint against him and demanded Rs 2 lakh to settle the issue, a Civil Lines police station official said.

"Sharma called the minister and his personal security officer (PSO) None Singh Bagri several times asking for the amount to be deposited in his bank account. Bagri approached police after which an extortion case was registered," he said.

A probe found Sharma was making the calls from Shimla after which he was held from there, the official said, adding that he was being brought to Raipur.