Student arrested for ‘blackmailing’ female classmate with nude photos

BERHAMPUR: Gopalpur police on Sunday arrested a 19-year-old student of Parala Maharaja engineering college for allegedly blackmailing his female classmate with her objectionable photos. The accused was identified as N Chinmay Mahant, a first-year student. Gopalpur IIC Srikant Khamari said the accused was in a relationship with the girl since February. During their relationship, he took some nude pictures of the victim without her knowledge. After around two months, the girl started to avoid him after finding a change in Mahant’s attitude.

Last week, the girl came to know that Mahant was in possession of her nude photographs. When she asked him to give her the photos, the accused reportedly demanded Rs 1 lakh. The victim expressed her inability to pay such a huge amount but agreed to give him Rs 6,000 which was in her bank account. However, Mahant refused and allegedly threatened to kill her if she failed to pay the entire amount. With no option left, the girl then informed her parents and the college authorities about the matter. 

Based on the allegation, the college authorities formed a committee and called Mahant, the girl and their parents for discussion. Mahant reportedly denied the allegations of blackmailing the victim and possessing any nude photo of her. However, the girl was adamant that her allegations were true. The matter was then placed before the college's internal complaint committee but to no avail.

On Saturday, the college authorities asked the girl to lodge a complaint with the police. The IIC said basing on the complaint, police arrested the accused. His laptop and mobile phone were sent to the forensic laboratory in Bhubaneswar. Mahant was produced in court and remanded in jail custody.