BJP leader Prakash Bajaj, the narrator of the Chhattisgarh sex tape who was "missing" for the past nine days, surfaced on Sunday and spoke to the police and media. He, however, sounded evasive.
It was Bajaj on whose complaint senior journalist Vinod Verma was arrested from Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh. Bajaj, a Raipur resident, filed a complaint alleging Verma was trying to extort money from him.
Bajaj is considered to be a close aide of Chhattisgarh Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Dharam Lal Kaushik. His sudden disappearance had sparked off several rumours and speculation.
Surfacing after nine days, he provided evasive answers to the questions put by police which confused the case further.
Based on his statement, it seems Bajaj was not clear if the caller was talking about a particular person.
"I don't know of which 'boss' the blackmailer was talking. He just said your 'boss' would be defamed," Bajaj said. "I have said everything to police. Now, I will speak in court," he added.
He told police that he received a call 10-12 days ago. "The caller said he has a sex CD of my 'boss'," he said.
The caller told Bajaj to come to Delhi along with the money if he wants to 'save' his boss and disconnected the phone call. "I dismissed it as a joke," he told police.
"I received a call again on October 26 and the caller once again asked me to reach Delhi and meet him to save my 'boss'. The second call got me worried and I lodged a complaint with the police," he said.
The BJP leader said he came to know about the journalist's arrest on October 27. "My cell phone was ringing non-stop. When I answered the call, I came to know a journalist has been arrested in Delhi."
"Initially, I could not understand anything," said Bajaj. He said when he spoke to his party members, he realised on the basis of his complaint, Vinod Verma was arrested.
"I started getting so many phone calls... it made me jittery. My family members also started panicking. I switched off my cell phone and went to a relative's place," Bajaj told police.
"When I lodged the complaint, I had no idea the matter would escalate so much. I realised the issue has become quite big when the CD was seized in Delhi," he said.
--IANS
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