A 25-year-old man identified as Ganagavarapu Satyaprasad hailing from Bhimanapalli village in Uppalaguptam mandalam of East Godavari district has been arrested for extorting money from businessmen, government officials and others in Amlapuram town, about 70 km from Rajahmundry.

Circle inspector of Amalapuram police station, P Srinivas said that Satyaprasad has a criminal history and has committed several such frauds in the past. He said that Satyaprasad recently changed his modus operandi to pose as a journalist even though he does not work for any newspaper or any other publication.

Mr Srinivas added that the accused threatened several government officials, political leaders, contractors and businessmen to pay money else he would publish news against them. Many of these people have fallen prey to his tactics.

Police arrested Satyaprasad in Amlapuram last night following complaints against him and registered a case against him.