Chhattisgarh: Journalist who was arrested on charges of extortion granted bail

Verma was booked under sections 384 and 507 of the Indian penal code (IPC) for extortion and intimidation after a complaint by one Prakash Bajaj.

A special CBI court in Raipur on Thursday granted bail to senior journalist Vinod Verma, who was arrested in October on charges of blackmailing and extortion.

Verma was arrested by Chhattisgarh Police on October 27 from Ghaziabad's Indirapuram area on charges of blackmailing and extortion.

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, Raipur District Superintendent of Police Sanjeev Shukla had then said.

Verma was booked under sections 384 and 507 of the Indian penal code (IPC) for extortion and intimidation after a complaint by one Prakash Bajaj.

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.

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