A team of Chhattisgarh police raided Verma's residence around 3.30 am on Friday.
The Chhattisgarh police arrested former BBC journalist Vinod Verma from his residence in Ghaziabad's Indirapuram early on Friday for allegedly trying to extort money from a Chhattisgarh minister on the basis of an alleged sex CD.
A Ghaziabad court granted Verma's transit remand to the Chhattisgarh police. He was allegedly in possession of a CD showing Rajesh Munat, Chhattisgarh's Public Works Department Minister, in a compromising position with a woman. Verma, a member of the Editors' Guild of India, has also worked for Amar Ujala. "A team of Chhattisgarh police raided Verma's residence around 3.30 am on Friday.
They claimed recoveries of nearly 500 CDs containing pornographic material, and Rs two lakh from his residence," said a senior police officer.
According to Verma's wife, nine people arrived in civil clothes and forced them to open the door. They said they wanted to carry out a search. Once they entered, they searched every corner of the house and later took him to Indirapuram police station for questioning, she said.
"It is shameful that police arrived without any papers. Police just entered and searched the house, later walked away taking my husband. They did not allow us to even speak," she added.
Verma said outside the court that he was given a 90-second clip in a pen drive on October 24, but the police planted the CD on him. "It is a political conspiracy to frame and arrest me in a false case since I am looking after the social media campaign of Congress Party in Chhattisgarh," he said.
Verma has been booked under sections 384 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for extortion and intimidation.
A complaint had been lodged at Pandari police station in Chhattisgarh's Raipur district by BJP's state working committee member Prakash Bajaj on Thursday.
"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," a police officer said.
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