By Shishir Prashant 
PrashantNews
The growing misuse of mobile cameras and the name of digital news platforms to allegedly blackmail people has come into focus with the arrest of a 46-year-old man in Dehradun who allegedly demanded ₹5 lakh from a property dealer, threatening to publish damaging news about him.
Police arrested Anuj Agrawal, who allegedly presented himself as the operator of a news platform, near the ISBT in Dehradun on the night of October 19. Three mobile phones and a diary were recovered from him, police said.
Significantly, the case comes days after the Supreme Court raised questions about the growing number of people claiming to be journalists in the digital age, and the difficulty of distinguishing professional reporters from social media content creators and reel-makers.
According to police, Tanveer Khan, a property dealer living in Azad Colony in the Majeera area, lodged a complaint at Patel Nagar police station on October 19. Khan told police that he had been involved in the property business for several years and was facing a dispute over a property in the Chanchak area.
He alleged that a person contacted him through WhatsApp, claimed to operate a news platform and threatened to publish reports about the property dispute that would create serious problems for him and ruin his reputation.
The caller allegedly demanded ₹5 lakh to prevent the reports from being published. Fearing the consequences, Khan transferred ₹50,000 to an Axis Bank account provided by the caller, held in the name of Anuj Agrawal, the complaint stated. Thereafter, the accused again threatened the property dealer following which a case was filed at Patel Nagar police station. Police registered a case under Sections 308(2), 308(4), 351(3) and 352 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and formed a team to investigate the complaint.
During the investigation, police identified Agrawal as the person who had allegedly contacted Khan. He was arrested near the ISBT on the night of October 19. The most disturbing aspect of the case emerged during the examination of the recovered articles, according to police.
Police found a secret compartment in the diary, allegedly designed to conceal a mobile phone for making videos without the knowledge of people. Police said several videos were found on the accused’s mobile phones. These videos are being examined as part of the investigation.
Police also said Agrawal was a history-sheeter at Patel Nagar police station and that several cases involving allegations of cheating, assault, criminal intimidation and other offences had been registered against him in Dehradun and other states. These are police claims; the allegations in the present case remain subject to judicial determination.
The case raises questions about the safeguards needed in an era when anyone can record a video, create an online platform and claim to represent the media, experts said.