Wannabe actor turns into an extortionist

Mumbai: The Uttar Pradesh police arrested Sandeep Sahu (26), a one-time struggling actor within 12 hours in Lucknow after filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt registered a police complaint of extortion and death threats to his family in Mumbai on Wednesday night.

According to police, Sahu, wanted to make it big in Bollywood. The crime branch officials have learnt that Sahu had stayed in Andheri between August and November last year to give his Bollywood dreams a shot though his efforts drew a blank. To survive in Mumbai, Sahu had taken loans from relatives but it was not enough. After giving up on his Bollywood dreams returned to Lucknow. The police suspect Sahu made the extortion calls to Bhatt and at least five others in bid to be able to repay  loans worth `5 lakh to his relatives.

Back in Lucknow, Sahu had opened a shoe shop to earn a living. Sahu is unmarried and stays with his parents and sister in Lucknow. A school dropout, Sahu has studied only till VIII standard. Officials said that he briefly worked at a local credit society – Sahu Finance in Lucknow. However, he quit his job to start his own shop. Few of his friends were into the shoes business; hence he decided to start a shoe shop. “He raised funds to the tune of `5 lakh from his relatives and started the shop, but it incurred huge losses, following which he decided to try his luck in Mumbai. He made his portfolio for `1.5 lakh to get roles in movies but in vain,” said a crime branch officer.

His Mumbai stint had put him in further debts and after his relatives started pressing him to return their money. He hatched a plan to make a quick buck by making extortion call to Mr Bhatt. Officials said that Sahu found Mr Bhatt’s number on the internet.  Sahu had allegedly given his bank account number to Mr Bhatt. The address with the bank was old and he had shifted elsewhere.

However, the special task force of Uttar Pradesh tracked him down with the help of his number and arrested him.