Journalist Reporting on Intimidation of Journalists in the BJP-ruled Chhattisgarh Arrested

Vinod Verma, a senior freelance journalist and former BBC Digital editor, was arrested on Friday early morning from his residence in Ghaziabad’s Indirapuram area on alleged charges of extortion.

Verma, a member of the Editors Guild of India, is believed to be working on an investigative story against BJP-ruling Chhattisgarh government. As the part of the fact-finding team of the Editors Guild, Verma along with Seema Chishti and Prakash Dubey travelled to Chhattisgarh last year to examine cases of intimidation of journalists.

The Chhattisgarh police said they have seized hundreds of CDs, a laptop and a pen drive from his home. According to reports, the police were investigating a complaint of blackmail over a sex CD that allegedly featured a Chhattisgarh minister and raided a shop in Delhi that had made 1,000 copies. The shop owner allegedly named Verma as the man who had commissioned the copies to him, the report added.

A BJP leader from Chhattisgarh, Prakash Bajaj had filed the blackmail complaint against Verma.

The Chhattisgarh government, however, accused that Verma was working in hands with the state's opposition Congress to discredit the ruling BJP government in the state. While the Congress leader, with whom the journalist has alleged a connection has denied the accusations.

Following the arrest of Verma, noted journalists including Urmilesh, Supriya Sharma, Hartosh Singh Bal, etc., took to Twitter to condemn the move of the Chhattisgarh government.

“Sr Journalist, Vinod Verma (formerly with BBC) was picked up last night at 3 AM by UP and Chattisgarh Police. Emergency days are here!”, Urmilesh wrote on Twitter.

“Vinod Verma was part of the fact-finding team of Editors Guild of India that looked at the intimidation of journalists in the state”, Supriya Sharma said.

“The sterling record of the Chhatisgarh police continues. It has managed to frighten all except those actually wielding arms against the state”, said Hartosh Singh Bal condemning the state’s action against Verma.

The Editors Guild’s fact-finding report which Verma had co-written concluded that journalists do not feel safe working in Bastar and "there is a sense of fear".

"The state government wants the media to see its fight with the Maoists as a fight for the nation and expects the media to treat it as a national security issue, and not raise any questions about it," the further report read.