Nude clip blackmail leads to bloody trail

Hyderabad: A 32-year-old housewife, who had multiple dalliances online, was arrested for the murder of her beau with the help of another Facebook friend and his aide. The accused is a resident of Prashanthi Hills in Meerpet.
In 2018, she got acquainted with M Yashma Kumar, 32, a photographer from Bagh Amberpet and soon their relationship grew intimate.
“While chatting with the woman, Yashma once asked her to make a nude video call and she complied. He recorded the nude video and later began blackmailing her. Yashma threatened to send the clip to her family, if she didn’t marry him, said an officer with Meerpet police.
Caught in a quagmire, the woman sought help of a Facebook friend, K Ashok of Vijayawada, to eliminate Yashma. Ashok along with his friend, Karthik, came to Hyderabad on May 4 and as per her instructions, they waited in ambush near her home at Prashanthi Hills. The woman had lured Yashma to her home with the promise of marriage.
It was well past midnight, when Yashma reached Prashanthi Hills, with the hope of meeting his lover. The hired assassins, Ashok and Karthik, swooped down on Yashma and attacked him with a hammer. Passers-by took him to hospital, where he succumbed to injuries on May 6.
Initially, police thought Yashma could be a road accident victim, but after scouring CCTV footage, they realised it was murder. Yashma’s mobile phone, which the assailants failed to seize from him, also provided vital clues. On Wednesday, police arrested the trio and sent them to prison.