Kochi: A gang of impostors, arrested for allegedly threatening and trying to extort money from a South Indian actress, had planned to kidnap and hold her hostage and demand a huge ransom, a top police official said on Tuesday.
Eight of the 12 member gang, which hatched the conspiracy and tried to execute their plan have been arrested, while the other four are absconding, City Police Commissioner Vijay Sakhare said "The gang of imposters, which established contact with Shamna Kasim and her family after coming up with a marriage proposal for her, had hatched a plan to kidnap the actress, hold her hostage in a hotel room and demand a huge ransom. But it did not materialise," he told sources.
Also read: Actress Shamna Kasim case: Suspected kingpin held
Police said the gang had kept several models in their captivity after inviting them for assignments and extorted money from them. Their success prompted them to go in for a bigger operation and try to extort money from an actress like Shamna, police said. They said the gang managed to collect details of the actress from those in the film industry after convincing them that they planned to produce movies. The arrested gang members are also accused of keeping eight women, working as models, in their captivity in Palakkadin March and extorting money from them Police have registered seven cases against the gang on the basis of separate complaints filed by Shamna and other models.
Also read: Shamna Kasim blackmail case: Actor Dharmajan records statement
Widening the probe to the Malayalam film industry, police had on Monday summoned and taken the statements of popular comedian Dharmajan Bolgatty, whom some of the arrested gang members had allegedly contacted during the lockdown. Police, however, clarified that the film personalities do not have any role in the episode.
PTI report
