SCRIBE HELD FOR ‘EXTORTION BID’ ON MINISTER
GHAZIABAD/RAIPUR: The Chhattisgarh Police arrested a former BBC journalist, Vinod Verma, from his Ghaziabad residence early Friday morning for allegedly trying to blackmail a Chhattisgarh minister with a sex CD.
Verma, who was arrested just 12 hours after a complaint was lodged in Raipur by the BJP’s state working committee member Prakash Bajaj, has been booked under Sections 384 and 507 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for extortion and intimidation. The case was handed over to the crime branch superintendent of police (SP) Ajatshatru Bahadur Singh who led a team to Delhi to investigate the matter.
“Verma was arrested by Chhattisgarh Police from his Indirapuram residence. He was brought to police station here for questioning. A case has been registered against him in Pandari police station in Raipur,” a senior police official said.
Verma has rubbished the claims that he had a sex CD. “Someone gave me a 1 minute 31 seconds clip on October 24 and as a back-up I saved it on my laptop… The police have planted the CD on me. It is a political conspiracy of framing me in a false case and arresting me since I am looking after the social media campaign of Congress in Chhattisgarh,” Verma said.
Rajesh Munat, Chhattisgarh PWD minister in the eye of the storm, said the video is fake. “The sex CD is fake. I appeal to the CM to get this investigated from any agency. I condemn this,” a news agency quoted Munat as saying.
Verma is also a member of Editors Guild of India and had been writing about socio-economic and cultural affairs of Chhattisgarh.
Raipur’s inspector general of police, Pradeep Gupta told reporters at a press conference: “An FIR was registered on Thursday. The FIR did not name Verma as accused. But the CDs have been found in his possession. We are obtaining his remand to bring him to Raipur. Prakash Bajaj gave us a complaint claiming that someone called his landline number and threatened him to release a pornographic CD of his boss.”
The call was traced to a shop in Delhi which was raided. Verma is said to have ordered the reprints of the CD, Gupta said. “We don’t know whether the call was made by Verma or someone else. It is a matter of further investigation,” Gupta said. Verma’s arrest sparked off a war of words between the Chhattisgarh units of the Congress and the BJP.
“The alleged sex scandal involving a sitting state minister surfaced last week. I also have the CD, but it was not released since we are examining its forensic credibility. Possessing a CD is not a crime. Verma has not circulated it,” Chhattisgarh state Congress president, Bhupesh Baghel .