Bhubaneswar: The police have arrested three persons, including two journalists, on charges of running a honey trap racket in Odisha’s Jajpur and Cuttack districts.

The arrested persons have been identified as Subhashis Basantray (34) and Himanshu Kumar Lenka (32) of Nischintakoili area and Itishree Mohanty (32) of Mahanga area of Cuttack district.

The accused trio reportedly targeted several teachers, doctors and businessmen in Cuttack and Jajpur and extorted money from them.

The gang reportedly engaged several women to honeytrap people. The women used to lure people by developing friendship with them through social media.

The members of the gang were extorting money from the victims by threatening them with police complaints.

The gang had tried to extort money from a doctor by threatening him with the allegations that he had molested a woman while examining her health condition at a private clinic-cum-drugstore in Nischintakloili area of the Cuttack in June this year.

The woman had lodged a complaint in this regard with the Badchana police in Jajpur. The Badchana cops later detained the owner of the drugstore in connection with the incident.

However, he was let off after his family agreed to pay Rs 2.5 lakh as part of a deal with the complainant to settle the case amicably.

The state government had suspended the Inspector In-Charge (IIC) of Badchana police, Madhusmita Behera, for her alleged role in facilitating a deal between the complainant and the drugstore owner.

The government initiated the disciplinary action after reports on the honey trap racket were published in the media.

Subsequently, the Cuttack district police formed a special team led by Salipur SDPO to conduct a detailed probe into the incident. The special team busted the honey trap racket and arrested the three accused.