Arrested journalist cries foul, says being framed as he has sex CD of C'garh minister

Ghaziabad: The Chhattisgarh Police on Friday arrested senior journalist Vinod Verma from his residence in Ghaziabad near Delhi on charges of extortion and blackmailing.

After arrest, Verma was taken to a police station in Ghaziabad, where he was quizzed for several hours.

Verma, who earlier worked with BBC Hindi service, was picked at 3:30 am from Mahagun Mansion Apartments, Vaibhav Khand, Indirapuram by a team of Chhattisgarh Police with the help of Ghaziabad police, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) HN Singh said.

A case of blackmail and extortion has been registered against Verma at Pandri Police Station in Raipur district of Chhattisgarh, he said.

"I have a sex CD of a Chhattisgarh Minister, he is Rajesh Munat and that is why Chhattisgarh government is not happy with me," Verma told the police.

"I just have a pen drive, have nothing to do with CD. Clearly, I am being framed," he added.

Meanwhile, Singh said: "A huge quantity of CDs have been seized from the journalist's house. We are scrutinising the material to check whether there is any link to sex scandal involving higher-ups."

Verma is also a member of the Editors Guild of India and has worked as Digital Editor at Amar Ujala.

With inputs from agencies.