2 held for trying to frame businessman in criminal case

Two persons were arrested for allegedly trying to frame a businessman in a criminal act, police said today.

Samir alias Susanta Singh (20) and his friend Pradeep Swain (19) had demanded Rs 10 lakh from industrialist Sarat Sahoo by showing him a fake video, Cuttack DCP Sanjib Arora said.

The duo made a video purportedly showing that members of a family in Koraput district have suffered food poisoning after consuming food made with a product processed by Sahoo's company, he said.

Swain delivered the video in a pen drive to Sahoo, along with a slip with Singh's phone number. When Sahoo contacted, Singh had demanded Rs 10 lakh to destroy the video.
 

According to a deal, the amount of protection money was negotiated and yesterday when Swain came to accept a part of the money, he was arrested. Based on his statements, Singh was also arrested, Arora said.