Journalist among two arrested in Jehanabad

PATNA: Two persons, including a web-portal journalist, were forwarded to judicial custody in Jehanabad for their alleged attempt to “manage” government authorities for a tainted PDS dealer by taking money from him, police said on Wednesday.
Town police station SHO Vinay Kumar on Wednesday said the arrested persons Nitin Kumar (38) is from Dhuriyari village and Surendra Kumar (32) is a resident of Modanganj village, both falling under Ghosi police station in Jehanabad.
SHO Kumar said Nitin is a journalist and runs a news portal in Jehanabad. “Police is verifying all these information along with the duo’s background,” he said.
The SHO said both were arrested from Jehanabad town on late Monday night where they were called on the pretext of meeting government officers.
He said both were forwarded to judicial custody on Tuesday night by a local court.
“Their cellphones have been seized. A call recording has been made available to police where one of them could be heard asking about money from a PDS dealer to manage government officers,” he said.
Modanganj block supply officer Sanjeev Kumar told TOI over the phone that they had cracked down against a PDS dealer of Modanganj panchayat on Saturday after getting complaint of irregularities.
“By Monday morning, we came to know that two persons, including a web-portal journalist, had approached the tainted dealer claiming that they will get the inquiry report turned in his favour even after all the action against him. The duo had demanded around Rs 30,000 to Rs 40,000 from the dealer to manage we government authorities,” he said.
Kumar said the sub-divisional officer, Nikhil Dhanraj, was apprised of the incidents after which an FIR was lodged against them following which they got arrested.