Kannada YouTube channel accused of extortion

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) has arrested four people for allegedly extorting money from people by threatening them in the name of a YouTube channel.

They have been identified as Anand alias Figure, Atmananda alias Krishnegowda, Srinivasa alias Reshmenadu Srinivasa and Keshavamurthy.

The group has been running the Kannada YouTube channel AK News for four years now. As the channel became popular, the group planned to extort money from businesses operating with faulty licences or selling illegal products. They would threaten to do videos on shopkeepers on YouTube. Fearing police action, many shopkeepers paid the group huge sums of money.