Journalist Vinod Verma arrested on charges of extortion, blackmailing Chhattisgarh minister

Verma was reportedly planning a sting operation against Chhattisgarh government, according to a private TV channel.

Senior journalist Vinod Verma was arrested by Chhattisgarh Police on Friday from Ghaziabad's Indirapuram on charges of blackmailing and extortion. He was sent on transit remand by a Ghaziabad Court. He will be presented before a Chhattisgarh court by police.

Verma was reportedly planning a sting operation against Chhattisgarh government, according to a private TV channel. About 500 CDs, Rs 2 lakh in cash, a pen drive, a laptop and a diary were recovered from the journalist's residence, said Raipur District Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Shukla.

Raipur DSP Shukla added that Verma has been booked under sections 384 and 507 of the Indian penal code (IPC) for extortion and intimidation. The complainant, he said, was a man named Prakash Bajaj.

"He had lodged a complaint at the Pandri police station that he was being harassed over the phone by an unidentified caller who told him that he had a CD of his master," Shukla told PTI.

Verma is also a member of Editors Guild of India and had been writing about socio-economic and cultural affairs of Chhattisgarh.

According to Linkedin profile, Verma was Editor, Digital and Convergence in Amar Ujala Publications Ltd between March 2013 - March 2016.

He also worked as a multimedia journalist in BBC from January 2003 to February 2013.

(With agency inputs)