Teacher held for posing as Maoist extorting Rs 2 crore

The school teacher, Chandrakant Sahu, posted at a government school in Rajim in Raipur district, was arrested for seeking Rs.2 crore in extortion by posing as a commander of the banned Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), a police officer said Saturday.

"Chandrakant Sahu was tracked down late Friday. He had sent an SMS from his cell phone to an automobile company official and asked them to pay Rs.2 crore and threatened to wipe out his family if he failed to cough up the money," I.H. Khan, additional superintendent of police, Raipur, told reporters.

The school teacher had sent the SMS claiming to be a commander of the CPI-Maoist. The automobile official was under extreme mental stress since May 10 when he got the SMS, Khan said.

Police said the teacher had sent the SMS to a few other people as well.
"The teacher's interrogation gives a clear indication that he sent the SMS as he wanted to settle personal scores with a neighbour with whom he had a land dispute for a long time," Khan informed.

The teacher had managed to get the identity card of his neighbour whom he wanted to teach a lesson and got several cell phones issued on his name and was using these to make his extortion calls so that the neighbour would be arrested, police said.