Chhattisgarh sex CD row: Journalist Vinod Verma gets bail

RAIPUR: Senior Journalist Vinod Verma, who is in judicial custody ever since his arrest in the sleaze CD case of Chhattisgarh, has been granted bail on Thursday by a lower court in the state capital.
Verma was arrested by Raipur police from his home in Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh on October 28. As the investigating agencies did not file charge-sheet against the accused within the mandatory 60 days, the district and sessions court allowed his bail application and granted him bail. Initially, the state police investigated the case and now the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is investigating all aspects of the case related to sex video clip going viral.
As per the provisions of law, an accused is entitled to default bail or statutory bail under section 167 (2) (a) ( ii) of The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) 1973 if the charge sheet is not filed in the competent court within 60 days of his arrest.
Verma was arrested just 11 hours after BJP’s state working committee member Prakash Bajaj lodged an FIR in Raipur against unknown persons claiming that someone had called him on his landline and tried to extort money claiming that he was in possession of a sex CD of his mentor and it would be made public if they don’t pay up.

Immediately after his arrest police claimed that they had recovered 500 sleaze CDs, a laptop and a pen drive from Verma’s residence. While being taken to a court in that state to seek transit remand, Verma reportedly told media there that he was being targeted as he was in possession of a video clip of a minister. Within hours after his arrest, a sex video clip went viral in Chhattisgarh.
By noon, state PWD minister Rajesh Munat, accompanied by state BJP president Dharamlal Kaushik and other ministers, were at a press meet in the state capital, alleged that journalist Vinod Verma have links with state Congress leaders and the sex CD was fabricated and circulated to tarnish the image of both the ministers as well as the government. PWD Minister Rajesh Munat also dismissed claims that he was featured in the sex video, asserting that the sex video clip was fake and doctored.
Subsequently, the state cabinet met and decided to recommend a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which later registered two separate FIRs—one of the basis of the complaint lodged by Prakash Bajaj and another on the complaint lodged by the PWD minister Rajesh Munat. While the first CBI FIR is against unidentified persons on the charges of extortion and another is under the provisions of section 67 of the Information Act, naming state Congress president Bhupesh Baghel and against senior journalist Vinod Verma.
The CBI has already questioned Vinod Verma and several others in connection with the investigation into the sex CD scandal.