Trainee air hostess arrested for aiding gangster in extortion

Cuttack, Jan 3 (PTI) Odisha Police arrested a trainee air hostess from her residence here for aiding a gangster in his extortion activities from behind the bars.

The 26-year-old woman is the second to be arrested in a week in connection with the case.

She was arrested from her Darga Bazaar residence and produced at a local court which remanded her to jail custody after rejecting her bail plea, the police said.

A woman law student was arrested earlier this week on the same charges of aiding the same gangster.

Both the women are arrested under Indian Penal Code sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 387(extortion), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 507 (criminal intimidation by anonymous communication) and under sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act, the police said.

The gangster Mohammed Shakeel is now lodged in Choudwar circle jail and had allegedly threatened a Cuttack businessman over WhatsApp video call on December 14 and had demanded Rs 10 lakh from him.

The two women had allegedly facilitated the video call for Shakeel, the police said.

The businessman had submitted a written complaint to the police.

Shakeel, his father and four of his accomplices are behind the bars in connection with various cases for over four months.