Bengaluru: A man has been arrested by city police for allegedly trying to blackmail Karnataka Minister ST Somanna's son.

The accused has been identified as Rahul Bhat. He was arrested by the Central Crime Branch (CCB) on a complaint lodged by Nishant, Somanna's son, with cyber police on December 27.

The CCB has taken Bhat into police custody for five days. In the complaint, Nishant alleged that his father's personal secretary Bhanu Prakash received extortion calls from unidentified persons.

They threatened to release a sex video of Nishant if he did not give them ransom, Nishant said adding that the accused texted a few of his morphed images on WhatsApp.

Some people with an ulterior motive, Nishant said, are targeting him to tarnish the image of his father.

Further investigation is underway and the police suspect involvement of some more people in the crime.