Sex CD row: Chhattisgarh govt recommends CBI probe; Congress slams Raman Singh regime

Former BBC journalist Vinod Verma at CJM Court in Ghaziabad after being arrested by Chhattisgarh Police from his Ghaziabad residence on Friday.

Raipur: Chhattisgarh government on Saturday recommended CBI probe into sex CD row allegedly involving PWD Minister Rajesh Munat.

The latest development comes a day after Chhattisgarh Police arrested senior journalist Vinod Verma from his Ghaziabad residence at 3.30 am on charges of blackmail and extortion.

Verma, who earlier worked with BBC Hindi service and Amar Ujala, claimed that the Chhattisgarh Police was not happy with him because he had a "sex CD of a Chhattisgarh minister".

The Congress on Saturday accused the BJP of gagging the media and demanded the release of Verma, arrested for allegedly blackmailing Chhattisgarh PWD Minister Rajesh Munat. The party demanded that Munat should quit and a probe held into the alleged "sex CDs" of the Minister.

The Chhattisgarh Police raided the journalist's residence with the Uttar Pradesh Police and recovered 500 porn CDs, a laptop, a pen drive and Rs 200,000 in cash, Raipur District Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Shukla said.

Verma was picked from Mahagun Mansion Apartments in Indirapuram, on the outskirts of the national capital, by a team of the Chhattisgarh Police with the help of the Ghaziabad Police, Senior Superintendent of Police (Ghaziabad) H N Singh said.

According to him, a case of blackmail and extortion has been registered against the scribe at Pandri police station in Raipur district of Chhattisgarh.

Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh's ruling BJP came under attack after the journalist's arrest.

Stung by the episode, the Rajesh Munat held a press conference along with other Bharatiya Janata Party leaders and termed the CD "tampered and morphed" and urged Chief Minister Raman Singh to order a thorough probe.

"I am in politics for roughly 34 years and never thought I would ever witness such allegation which shows to what extent the level of politics has fallen," said an unfazed Munat.

Munat is considered close to Raman Singh and the CD issue has pushed the BJP on the back foot.