Noida, Apr 23 (IANS): The police on Monday arrested a woman "journalist" who tried to blackmail and extort money from Union Minister Mahesh Sharma at his hospital in Gautam Buddh Nagar.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Gautam Budh Nagar, Vaibhav Krishna said that on being alerted by the Union Minister of State for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation, the police rushed to Kailash Hospital, owned by Sharma, and took the woman into custody.

According to the police, she was using an old audio clip to blackmail him.

"Our team has recovered an audio clip from a tablet and a letter from her. The letter is allegedly written by her 'editor' named Alok Kumar in which he has asked (the Minister) to deliver Rs 2.5 crore. We are studying the contents of the letter," said Krishna.

An FIR is being registered and the investigating team is questioning her, said the SSP, adding that attempts are being made to nab Alok Kumar.

Apparently, the woman and the editor are from a news channel which is said to have closed down post demonetisation, he said.