Judicial custody of journalist Vinod Verma extended till Dec 11

Arrested journalist Vinod Verma said that he had a sex tape of a Chhattisgarh minister.

A court in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur district on Monday extended till December 11 the judicial custody of senior journalist Vinod Verma, arrested in connection with a case of alleged blackmailing and extortion.

Former BBC journalist Vinod Verma at CJM Court in Ghaziabad after being arrested by Chhattisgarh Police from his residence on October 27, 2017, over charges of blackmail and extortion. (PTI)

The court of Judicial Magistrate First Class Bhavesh Kumar Watti extended the judicial remand of Verma till December 11. This is for the second time that his judicial remand has been extended, the journalist’s lawyer Faisal Rizvi told reporters.

Verma was produced in the court after his judicial remand ended today, he said.

Following the journalist’s arrest on October 27 from his Ghaziabad residence by the Chhattisgarh Police, he was sent to judicial custody on October 31 for 14 days. Later, his judicial remand was extended up to November 27.

After his arrest, Verma had said that he had a sex tape of a Chhattisgarh minister.

According to the Raipur police, a case of blackmail and extortion was registered at the Pandri police station based on a complaint by a BJP leader Prakash Bajaj who said he “was being harassed over the phone by an unidentified caller who told him that he had a CD of his ‘aka’ (master)”.

After investigation, a search team was sent to Delhi and Verma was held from Ghaziabad in this connection, the police had said and also claimed to have recovered 500 “porn” CDs, a pen drive and a laptop from him.

The Chhattisgarh government had recommended a CBI probe.