Civil services aspirant blackmailed couple with private video; held

The accused, Vinay Kumar Sahu, had gone to the couple's house early last month with the intention of burglary, but instead recorded the couple's intimate moments using his mobile phone and demanded money.

Durg: A 28-year-old man, who aspired to get a government job but failed to clear any civil services exams despite multiple attempts, tried to extort Rs 10 lakh from a couple after he happened to shoot their intimate video at their place in Durg district of Chhattisgarh, police said.

The accused, Vinay Kumar Sahu, had gone to the couple's house early last month with the intention of burglary, but instead of stealing anything, he recorded the couple's intimate moments using his mobile phone and demanded money from them for not making their video public, they said.

The accused was arrested on June 25 based on the complaint lodged by the couple, residents of Ahiwara village located in the Nandini police station area, Sub Divisional Officer of Police (Dhamdha) Sanjay Pundhir said.

"On June 17, the male victim complained to the police that he received a video clip on their WhatsApp from an unknown number that showed him and his wife in an intimate moment. The man also told the police that some unidentified person called him and demanded Rs 10 lakh for not releasing the clip on social media," he said.

A joint team of Nandini police and Anti-Crime and Cyber Unit (ACCU) was constituted to probe the matter. Police zeroed in on the accused based on technical evidence and CCTV footage, and arrested him, he said.

"During his interrogation, Sahu told the police that he had burgled the couple's house twice earlier and he had sneaked in again on May 5 with the same intention. But instead of stealing something, he allegedly recorded the intimate moments of the couple on his phone. A few days later, he sent the video to the couple and started blackmailing them by demanding Rs 10 lakh for not making it viral," the official said.

Three mobile phones and as many SIM cards were recovered from the possession of the accused, he said.

Sahu is a resident of Ahiwara. After completing his bachelors in engineering, he was preparing for civil services. He tried to secure a government job and appeared for various exams, including state Public Service Commission, but failed to clear it every time, Pundhir said.

To meet his needs, Sahu started stealing mobile phones and other articles in his own locality, he added.

The accused was booked under section 384 (punishment for extortion) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the SDOP said, adding that further probe is underway.