By Express News Service HYDERABAD: If you are constructing a new building or establishing a business outlet in Hyderabad, chances are you would have to shell out a huge sum as a bribe to miscreants who pose as reporters. These miscreants indulge in organised collection of bribes from owners of under-construction establishments, threatening them that the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) would levy heavy fines on them if they don’t pay up. A day after two such reporters, working for different Telugu newspapers, were caught by the ACB on Friday, law-enforcement officials said they have collected data of more than 100 reporters working within Greater Hyderabad limits in collision with GHMC officials. They have been accused of trespassing, threatening and collecting bribes. In their remand report, the ACB mentioned that two reporters - Akula Kiran Goud and Sopala Srinivas - colluded with GHMC town planning officer Siddantham Madan Raj after threatening environmental engineer Keshav Reddy, were caught taking a `2 lakh bribe to construct a shed on Reddy’s building. Several building owners are now complaining to law enforcement agencies via WhatsApp against local reporters, and so far, more than 100 such reporters allegedly indulging in extortion have been identified. For instance, one Madhav, who was sacked for indulging in illegal activities in Dundigal limits, trespassed into an under-construction business establishment and started taking pictures. When the owner asked why he was taking pictures, he claimed to be a reporter, showed an ID card, and demanded a bribe of Rs 50,000, stating that he found some violations of building norms. Though the owner obtained all needed permissions from the GHMC and other departments, the reporter sought the documents under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by threatening government officers, and then started demanding a bribe from the owner again. The owner then approached the police with all his letters of permission.

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