Mumbai: Man Held for Blackmailing Andhra Pradesh MP, Demanding Rs 5 Crore

The Andhra Pradesh Police have arrested an accused involved in allegedly blackmailing and threatening an MP from the state and demanding ₹5 crore as extortion. The accused was arrested from Mumbai with the assistance of Mumbai Police.

According to information received, after the MP received threats of blackmail, he sent his personal assistant (PA) to meet the accused in the Medukurru area. During the meeting, the accused and his associates allegedly robbed the PA of ₹70,000 at knifepoint.

Following a complaint, Medukurru Police Station in Andhra Pradesh registered a case under various sections related to extortion and criminal intimidation. Based on technical analysis, the accused’s location was traced to Mumbai. A team from Medukurru Police then travelled to Mumbai and, with the help of VP Road Police Station, arrested the accused.

The arrested accused has been identified as Rushant Jaykumar Wadke, who is reportedly an RTI activist by profession.

Police sources said the accused had obtained certain information about the MP through the Right to Information (RTI) Act. He allegedly threatened to forward this information to central investigating agencies and used it to continuously blackmail the MP. The accused had travelled to Andhra Pradesh to meet the MP, but the MP instead deputed his PA to meet him in the Medukurru area. During this meeting, the accused and his associates allegedly intimidated the PA with a knife and extorted ₹70,000.

Following the incident, a case was registered at Medukurru Police Station under Sections 308(5), 351(2), 127(2) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Further investigation led police to trace the accused to Mumbai, after which he was arrested.

Further investigation in the case is underway.