Scribe linked to 'sex CD' case named Chhattisgarh CM advisor
Raipur, Dec 20: Senior journalist Vinod Verma, whose name had cropped in the "sex CD" episode last year, was Thursday appointed political advisor to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.
The General Administration Department (GAD) appointed four advisors to the chief minister, an official statement said.
While Verma was appointed political advisor to Baghel, another journalist Ruchir Garg, who quit as an editor of a Hindi daily and joined the Congress ahead of the just concluded assembly polls, was named media advisor to the Congress chief minister.
Besides, Pradip Sharma was appointed planning, policy, agriculture and rural development advisor and Rajesh Tiwari parliamentary advisor to Baghel, the statement said.
Verma, a close confident of Baghel, was arrested from Ghaziabad in October 2017 by the Raipur police after a case of blackmailing and extortion was registered at the Pandri Police Station here on a complaint by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Prakash Bajaj.
Bajaj had alleged that he was "being harassed over phone by an unidentified caller", who told him he had a CD of his "aaka" (master).
The police had claimed to have recovered 500 CDs and some pen drives from Vermas residence during a raid.
After Verma's arrest, a "sex CD", purportedly featuring the then PWD Minister Rajesh Munat, had surfaced in Raipur.
Munat had termed the CD as "fake" and alleged it was made and circulated to tarnish his image. He had later filed a complaint against Baghel, the then state Congress president.
On recommendation of the then BJP government, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the investigation of two cases related to the circulation of the CD.
Verma was released on bail in December last year after the police failed to file a charge sheet against him in the mandatory 60 days.
In September this year, the CBI had filed the charge sheet in a special court here in the case, naming Baghel, Verma and three others as accused.
During the investigation, one more accused, Rinku Khanuja, had allegedly committed suicide in June this year.
All the accused were 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), according to the charge sheet.
Verma and Baghel had denied any involvement in the preparation or circulation of the CD.
Baghel had initially refused to apply for bail and stayed in judicial custody for a couple of days.
The Congress leader, who had said he was falsely implicated in the case, later obtained bail from the court.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Goa nightclub fire: Co-owner Ajay Gupta's police remand extended by four days
Panaji (PTI): A Goa court on Thursday extended by four days the police remand of Ajay Gupta, co-owner of Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub, where a devastating fire on December 6 killed 25 persons.
Gupta was arrested from New Delhi on December 10. A court in Mapusa had remanded him in police custody for seven days at the time.
Gupta was presented before the lower court, which sent him to four-day police custody as his initial remand was expiring, his advocate Rohan Desai told reporters.
"Gupta had complained about back pain. The court ordered his medical examination, after which he was allowed use of a mattress in custody. He was examined by a specialised doctor at Goa Medical College and Hospital near here," the lawyer said.
Twenty-five persons, including 20 staff members and five tourists, were killed in the major blaze at the nightclub at Arpora in North Goa around midnight of December 6.
Gupta had, during the day, filed an bail application.
So far, eight persons have been arrested in connection with the case, including Gupta, and two other owners - Gaurav Luthra and his brother Saurabh - who were deported from Thailand.
Five other staffers of the nightclub arrested in the case are Rajiv Modak (Corporate General Manager), Priyanshu Thakur (Gate Manager), Rajveer Singhania (Bar Manager), Vivek Singh (General Manager) and Bharat Karan Singh Kohli (employee).
A Look Out Circular (LOC) has been issued against Surinder Kumar Khosla, another owner of the nightclub who is a British citizen, police said.
