Two persons from Namakkal district, S. Murugan, and P. Anantharaj, were arrested on charges of extortion against a fireworks shop owner, L. Saravanaperumal, on Saturday.
The police said that the accused had gone to the fireworks shop in a car and asked for joined crackers. They had sought 100-wala and 1,000-wala.
As the shopkeeper showed them both the products, one of them stealthily took photographs and videographed the products.
Later, they claimed that they were reporters of a magazine and questioned Saravanaperumal as to how he could possess the banned joined crackers.
They allegedly told him that they were deputed by the Special Tahsildar, Matches and Fireworks for monitoring the fireworks shops about selling banned fireworks goods.
The accused claimed that he had lodged a complaint and very soon his shop would be sealed.
They then sought ₹30,000 for not taking action against the fireworks shop.
After giving ₹4,000, the shopkeeper got suspicious over their behaviour and called other shopkeepers and caught them.
The accused were handed over to the police. Further investigation is on.
Published – October 04, 2026 09:43 pm IST
