Raipur, March 04 (HS): Seven people including former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Vinod Verma and Kailash Murarka, accused in Chhattisgarh’s sex CD scandal, appeared in the special court of CBI judge Bhupesh Kumar Basant on Tuesday. Statements of all the accused were recorded under Section 164.
Senior advocate Manish Datt of Jabalpur High Court pleaded on behalf of Bhupesh Baghel. Seven people including Vinod Verma, Kailash Murarka, other accused in this case, were also present in the court of Special Judge Bhupesh Kumar Basant.
CBI has made Vinod Verma, Kailash Murarka, Vijay Pandya, Vinod Bhatia and former CM and former PCC President Bhupesh Baghel accused in this case in its charge sheet, while one of the accused in this case, Rinku Khanuja, has committed suicide by hanging himself.
Bhupesh Baghel’s advocate Manish Datt told reporters that Bhupesh Baghel has been implicated in a false case. He neither made the CD nor distributed it. Bhupesh Baghel has not committed any crime. He said that the CBI has given its arguments.
Bhupesh has left after the hearing. During the last hearing, defense lawyer Faisal Rizvi had told that the court had debated on the investigation against CBI vs Kailash Murarka and others. The CBI has completed the arguments.
Faisal Rizvi told that the CBI has informed the court that in the year 2017, Manas Sahu made a pornographic CD. For this, a transaction of about 95 thousand rupees took place. The money was sent from bank to bank. A year after the CD was made, it was copied in Delhi. According to the CBI, they have electronic evidence. It is worth mentioning that on October 27, 2017, an alleged pornographic CD scandal came to light in Chhattisgarh. It was allegedly being said to be of former minister Rajesh Munat. There was an objectionable video in this CD, regarding which Bhupesh had claimed that the person seen in a very objectionable position with the woman is minister Rajesh Munat.
Within a short time, this video clip went viral on social media. After the CD surfaced, Minister Munat denied it and called it fake and demanded a high-level investigation of the entire matter from the Chief Minister.
In this case, a case was registered in Raipur’s Civil Lines police station and after the minister’s CD became public, Chhattisgarh Police arrested senior journalist Vinod Verma from Ghaziabad. Police had claimed that 500 CDs of video clips and 2 lakhs were seized from his residence. In this case, the then state president of Congress Bhupesh Baghel was also arrested in September 2018. He was accused of plotting. Former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel refused to take bail. After this, Congress took to the streets against the then BJP government across the state.
Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar
