Two Andhra journalists booked on charge of extortion

Palakollu, Dec 21 (IANS) Two journalists in Andhra Pradesh have been booked on the charge of extorting money from a rice trader, police said on Monday.West Godavari district police registered a case under Section 384 of the IPC against Vendra Srinivas and Lazarus for allegedly threatening the trader while he was loading rice meant for a government welfare scheme.Police said that the duo extorted Rs 95,000 from the trader, threatening that they would otherwise report the illegal rice loading to officials."We have registered a case against the two journalists and are investigating," a police official told IANS. Police is yet to arrest the duo.Incidentally, Srinivas from Narasapuram has a rowdysheet against him. Lazarus is from Palakollu town. Srinivas works with a prominent Telugu news channel based in Hyderabad.
--IANS sth/tsb/bg