Bengaluru man attempts to extort Rs 1.5 lakh from pet store, police complaint filed

The man led forest officials on a wild goose chase after he called them to allege that a pet shop was selling live corals illegally.
Acused
Acused
Written by:

A pet shop owner in Bengaluru has filed a police complaint against a Bengaluru resident who tried to extort Rs 1.5 lakh after posing as a wildlife activist and calling the forest officials with a false complaint against the store. The man has gone absconding after setting forest officials on a wild goose chase. 

Speaking to TNM, Kavita Nandakumar, the complaint and proprietor of the store ‘Bloo Aqua Studio,’ said the middle-aged man had visited their shop on Thursday, asking for a marine tank. 

She said, “On the first day, he posed as a regular customer and asked for a 5x3-ft marine tank and other items. At that point, nothing seemed to be amiss. Suddenly, he then asked about live corals, which is when we told them that it is illegal and that we don’t deal with restricted items." Corals are protected under the Wildlife Protection Act and it is a punishable offence to buy and sell them across India.

Kavita added, "Then, he pointed to some ornamental plastic corals and claimed that these were real.”

It is at this point that the man threatened to “expose” the shop if they do not pay him Rs 1.5 lakh. When the store did not give in to the man's demands, he called the forest department officials to raid the store the next day.

He had even joined the forest officials when they reached the store on Friday. Speaking to TNM, Assistant Conservator of Forests, Venkatesh confirmed that it was a false accusation and the corals were all made of plastic and rubber.

“We won’t pursue any legal action against him but it’s true that he fled the spot and currently he is absconding. He has dialled us with a similar complaint against another shop in Whitefield too and we will investigate,” he told TNM.

Kavita explained that once the accused was asked to provide proof of identification, he showed an ID card, that said his name is Deepak and that he is the president of ‘All India Raiding Team of Wild Eye India’. He also allegedly runs a fake website and an Instagram account under the name of the organization. It was at one point when the forest staff personnel asked him to wait outside when they were speaking to the shop owners that he fled from the spot.

Puttenahalli Police Station Inspector Chaudhury said they have summoned the accused to appear before them. “We cannot reveal more about this at this point, we have already begun investigations,” he told TNM. However, an FIR is yet to be registered. 

Related Stories

No stories found.
The News Minute
www.thenewsminute.com