28-year-old Vinay Kumar Sahu has admitted to the crime
Six years back, Vinay Kumar Sahu's aspirations to become a civil servant crumbled before failure. And now, his ambitions in the world of crime have been crushed after a blackmail attempt went awry. Police say Sahu's "laziness" got him into trouble as he would target the same houses repeatedly and this made it easy to track him.
The "lazy" thief's bizarre tale came to light when a couple in Chhattisgarh's Durg district approached police and complained that they were being blackmailed over a video of their intimate moments. The blackmailer, they said in the complaint, had threatened to leak the video online if he was not paid Rs 10 lakh.
An FIR was filed and police launched a massive search for the culprit along with cyber crime units. CCTV footage from the area was scanned and a suspect identified and arrested.
During questioning, 28-year-old Sahu admitted to the crime and narrated a story that left the cops surprised.
According to senior police officer Hem Prakash Nayak, Sahu told the police that he was in Delhi in 2017-2018 to prepare for the civil service entrance exam conducted by the Union Public Service Commission. After he failed to crack the tough all-India test, he returned to his home in Ahiwara town of Chhattisgarh.
Soon after, he made his crime debut. He started with petty thefts such as mobile snatching. But the modus operandi had a huge flaw. His activities were confined to a neighbourhood in Durg. "He is so lazy that he targeted the same houses repeatedly," said a police officer.
Last week, Sahu broke into a couple's home to steal. He had stolen twice from them, and this was the third attempt.
The accused has told cops that as he was looking around for what to steal, he spotted the couple in an intimate moment and a blackmail idea struck him. He promptly recorded a video and started sending threat messages to the couple, asking for Rs 10 lakh. The couple was besides themselves with worry about the consequences of the video leaking on to the Internet. But they still mustered the courage to approach police, whose swift action has paid off.