Congress seeks SC-monitored probe into 'fake' sex CD row; says Vinod Verma's arrest curbs press freedom

Raipur: The Congress on Saturday demanded a probe by an independent agency, under the supervision of the Supreme Court, into the “fake” sex CD row allegedly involving a Chhattisgarh minister. The main opposition party in the state also accused the ruling BJP of curbing press freedom. “The way the BJP has reacted to the (sex CD) matter, it is clear that a state government agency cannot probe this issue. It should be investigated by an independent agency under the supervision of the Supreme Court,” Chhattisgarh Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel said at a press conference. [caption id=“attachment_4160489” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] He also pointed out that while the BJP talked about political morality, the entire party came out in defence of the minister, Rajesh Munat, after the CD allegedly involving him surfaced. Without conducting a probe into the matter, the ruling party gave its minister a clean chit, Baghel said. Accusing the BJP of suppressing the voice of the media, the Congress leader alleged that journalists were being threatened and implicated in false cases. “The arrest of senior journalist Vinod Verma is a case in point,” he said. Verma, who was arrested from Ghaziabad for suspected blackmailing and extortion by the Chhattisgarh police, had claimed that he had a “sex CD” of the minister. Baghel alleged that the Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh governments had conspired to get the journalist arrested. Verma was not even named in a blackmailing complaint lodged in Raipur and was arrested even without conducting a preliminary investigation, he said, adding that it clearly reflected that there was a conspiracy against him. The police claimed to have recovered 500 “porn” CDs, a pen drive and a laptop from Verma. The alleged video sparked a war of words between the Congress and the BJP. Munat, on Friday, had told reporters that the Congress and Verma were trying to tarnish his image through the CD which he described as “fake”. Subsequently, the minister had lodged a complaint against Baghel and Verma at the Civil Lines police station in Raipur. Based on the complaint, the police had registered a case against Baghel, Verma and others under the Information Technology Act.