Chattisgarh: 14 journalists arrested in eleven months

Fourteen journalists were arrested in Chhattisgarh in the last 11 months, the state government informed the Legislative Assembly on Thursday.

It includes freelance journalist Vinod Verma, arrested in connection with an alleged sex CD scandal.

In a written reply to a question by Leader of Opposition T S Singhdeo (Congress), Home Minister Ramsewak Paikra said, "Fourteen journalists were arrested between January 2017 and November 29, 2017 in the state.

"Cases had been registered against these journalists before the arrests," the reply added.

Vinod Verma (51), accused of involvement in the circulation of a `sex CD' allegedly featuring a state minister, is among the arrested journalists, the reply said Verma was apprehended by the state police from Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) on October 27 this year. He was arrested following a complaint lodged by Prakash Bajaj with Pandri police in Raipur under section 384 (extortion) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, the reply added.

Overall, three journalists were arrested in Kondagaon district, two each in Durg and Raipur districts and one each in Surajpur, Koriya, Sukma, Mungeli, Gariaband, Bilaspur and Kanker.