Moodbidri: In an attempt to extract ransom, a Bajrang Dal activist was caught red handed by the police today when he was on the verge of collecting the cash. Four of his associates were arrested later.

The arrested has been identified as Satish Poojary , a resident of Puttige Gudde and convener of local  Bajrang Dal unit.

He was demanding ransom from one Raghavendra Bhat on some pretext for quite some time, failing which he threatened to kill him. Unable to bear the pressure, Raghavendra Bhat complained to the police and sought their help. The police hatched a plot to trap Satish and asked Raghavendra Bhat to co-operate. Accordingly, Raghavendra Bhat asked Satish to collect the ransom amount of Rs 2 lakhs from his residence. When Satish was on the verge of collecting the cash, the police caught him red handed.

They also arrested his accomplice Praveen, an employee in a welding shop. In addition, 3 more residents of Mangaluru who were involved in the blackmail attempt were also nabbed by the police later at the Moodbidri bus-stand.

Incidentally, Satish Poojary had left Indian army on poor health ground and owned a mobile phone shop. He was active in real estate business too. He was earlier involved in cases of blocking vehicles carrying cows to slaughter houses.