Chhattisgarh Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel has been sent to judicial custody for 14 days by a special CBI court for circulating a fake ‘sex CD’ allegedly involving a senior Chattisgarh minister.
According to the reports, a “sex CD” had become viral allegedly featuring Public Works Department Minister Rajesh Munat had rocked Chhattisgarh last year and Baghel was named one of the five accused in this matter. The CBI had filed a charge sheet against Bhaghel, journalist Vinod Verma, Kailash Murarka, Vijay Pandya, and trader Vijay Bhatia in this case.’
Case was filed against Bhupesh Baghel on basis of a complaint filed by Chattisgarh Minister Rajesh Munat in connection with alleged sex CD scandal of Munat. Bhupesh Baghel didn’t move a bail application or engage lawyer https://t.co/vEos9L5BWx
— ANI (@ANI) September 24, 2018
Even though the charges against him were bailable, Baghel pleaded to the court that he is innocent, and said this is a political attack. Further, he said, he will neither apply for a bail nor employ a lawyer and will begin a satyagraha in jail. The court then sent him to judicial custody and granted bail to journalist Vinod Verma, while removing charges of extortion against him.
The Central Bureau of Investigation took over the investigation of two cases related to the circulation of a ‘sex CD’, allegedly involving a Chhattisgarh minister, in December last year.
The CBI had arrested former journalist Vinod Verma last year and he was charged with non-bailable sections of extortion on a complaint by BJP leader Prakash Bajaj. Bajaj had alleged that he was threatened with the release of an explicit CD of his ‘aaka’ (master) unless he paid money.
Reportedly, all the accused have been booked under IPC sections 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 67A of the IT Act (whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published or transmitted in the electronic form any material which contains sexually explicit act).
With the state assembly elections only weeks away, the arrest of Congress chief has started a political slugfest in the state. While Congress alleges that the BJP government is hounding their leader with elections in mind, Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh has stated that it is a judicial process and the investigating agency decides when to file a charge sheet. “It is up to the CBI to decide when to summon anyone or file a charge sheet”. Singh added.
