The police officers investigating a Sh10 million extortion claim against TBC1 reporter Jerry Muro and two of his alleged accomplices say they have damning evidence in 16 mobile phone text messages.

The Citizen learnt yesterday that the short message service (SMS) was one of the main areas around which the investigators were building their case against the three suspects.

A senior officer in the team assembled to unravel the alleged extortion and blackmail ring that reportedly targeted a former Bagamoyo district council treasurer, Mr Michael Wage, for the huge bribe, said the SMSs were intercepted before police arrested the three men for questioning.

Speaking on a strict condition of anonymity, the detective said the 16 messages were sent to Mr Wage in a span of 10 days before the sensational arrest in Dar es Salaam on Sunday of the award-winning TBC1 reporter.

Mr Muro was the overall winner of the inaugural 2009 Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) Journalist of the Year award for anti-corruption reporting. Yesterday, the source said: "We have in our possession the communication between the suspects and Mr Wage that will prove that there was a plot to extort Sh10 million. It will formpart of our evidence against the suspects."

His revelation comes amid swelling public debate that has largely split into two groups, with one believing that Mr. Muro, a seasoned investigative journalist specialising in fighting corruption, was set up by serving police officers and those who had lost their jobs due to his traffic bribery exposes. The other segment wants the investigations carried out speedily and conclusively to clear or prove Mr Muro's guilt.

Yesterday, our source said the last of the blackmail messages were sent last Wednesday, warning Mr Wage to fulfil the deal allegedly reached with Mr Muro and the other two suspects, Mr Deodatus Mgasa and Mr Edmund Kapama, who were on Tuesday paraded at Dar es Salaam police boss Suileman Kova's press conference.

The messages claim the authors were aware of secret dealings by Mr Wage before he and four other senior officials at the Bagamoyo council were suspended by over the alleged embezzlement of Sh900 million.

Another message indicated they had bank account details showing that Mr Wage had allegedly stashed away millions of shillings. Yet another text message warned that the officials were playing hard to get but would regret it.

The police detective said the messages also allegedly warned that if Mr Wage did not cooperate, he would worsen the corruption investigations ordered into the local authority by Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda, when he announced the officials' suspension.

The detective said a transcript of the messages would be produced in court as an exhibit once the suspects are charged. On Tuesday, Mr Kova said during his press briefing that police also had evidence in the form of images captured by closed circuit television (CCTV).

Mr Kova said it had been easy for his officers to pick up the other suspects because they were well known, having been implicated in similar cases in the past. He said police had footage of Mr Muro and the other suspects meeting in several hotels with the complainant.

Dar es Salaam Special Zone Commander Kova on Tuesday said 35-year-old Mgasa, a resident of Mbezi Beach, and Mr Kapama, 52, of Mwananyamala, had allegedly teamed up with Mr Muro to extort money from Mr Wage.

The two men were arrested on Monday evening from a bar in the Kinondoni area, following Sunday's brief arrest and interrogation of Mr Muro over the saga. The two are being held at Central police station, while Mr Muro is out on a personal bond.

Mr Muro has since come out fighting, declaring that he had been framed and is now fearing for his life following the impounding of his licensed pistol. He said he did not know why the police were after him.

On Monday, Mr Kova disclosed that while the two other suspects would appear in court soon, the Attorney General, Mr Frederick Werema, would decide whether or not to charge Mr Muro.

He denied claims that Mr Muro may have been framed after his exposure of corruption in the traffic police unit that led to the sacking of over 20 officers, most of them from Dar es Salaam and Iringa.