The CBI has taken over the probe into the alleged distribution of a "fake" sex CD of Chhattisgarh minister Rajesh Moonat at the request of the BJP government in the state and registered two FIRs, officials said today.
State PWD Minister Moonat and BJP leader Prakash Bajaj had lodged two separate complaints based on which the Chhattisgarh Police registered two FIRs in the case.
The Chhattisgarh government had recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the matter and transferred the FIRs to the agency October 28.
"The first case was registered at the Pandri police station in Raipur on October 26, this year against unknown persons on the allegation that the complainant (Bajaj) received a call on his phone wherein an unidentified caller said that he possessed a pornographic video of his "aaka" (master) and threatened to distribute it in case his demand of ransom was not met," CBI Spokesperson Abhishek Dayal said here.
He said the other case was registered at the Civil Lines police station in Raipur on October 27 against Chhattisgarh Congress president Bhupesh Baghel and senior journalist Vinod Verma on the allegation that they had given Moonat's fake pornographic video to various social media platforms to malign his character and obtain political mileage.
Verma and Baghel have denied the allegations.
State Revenue Minister Prakash Pandey had said that the matter seemed to be a "political and criminal conspiracy" and, therefore, it was felt that the CBI should probe it.
The video sparked a political row in the state with the Congress and the BJP trading charges over it.
The matter came to light when Verma was arrested by the Chhattisgarh Police from his Ghaziabad residence in October for suspected blackmail and extortion in the case.
When Verma was being escorted by the police, he had claimed that the state government was not happy with him as it suspected that he had a "sex CD of Chhattisgarh PWD Minister Rajesh Moonat" and suggested he was being framed.
Moonat had called it "fake" and an attempt at character assasination.
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