Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: Kukesh Rauta, who was detained for allegedly extorting money from a sitting MLA by threatening to broadcast an explicit video, is being questioned in custody by the Crime Branch.
Police have responded to Rauta’s bail application that was submitted to the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Mapusa. The hearing is anticipated to take place on December 10.
According to the police, they must ascertain whether the accused has given the allegedly altered footage of the MLA to anybody else.
The video, which went viral on social media and was removed a few days ago while the accused was in detention, is also being investigated by cybercrime police.
According to the accusation, the accused had known the MLA for the previous five years.
The MLA had claimed in his complaint that he had known Rauta, an Odisha native, while he was employed in Goa. “We’ve been pals. In his complaint, the MLA stated, “I would occasionally give him money or assistance whenever he needed it.”
Police said that after the accused threatened to post the footage on social media, the MLA lost almost Rs 5 lakh to him over the course of a year. Last Monday, the crime branch detained Rauta, an Odisha resident.
According to the police, the accused had sought Rs 5 crore and had disclosed that he had extorted Rs 5 lakh.
Police reported that after the MLA’s accusation, a formal complaint was filed on December 2.
The complainant claims that before December 5, 2023, the accused made a video call to his cellphone number and, without his knowledge, captured the footage.
