Ex-BBC journalist Vinod Verma sent on remand, will now be presented before Chattisgarh court

Ex-BBC journalist Vinod Verma has been sent on transit remand after being arrested on charges of extortion and blackmailing. Verma will now be produced before a Chattisgarh court by the police.As per a previous Firstpost article, Verma said he was being framed for allegedly blackmailing and extorting money from a Chhattisgarh PWD minister Rajesh Kumar.[caption id="attachment_4179167" align="alignleft" width="380"]

File image of the former BBC journalist Vinod Verma. Twitter @patrakarvinod[/caption]Verma told reporters he had a sex tape of the minister.He has been booked under Section 384 (extortion) and Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal code (IPC).Verma allegedly tried to blackmail sitting Chhattisgarh PWD minister Rajesh Kumar, saying he had over 100 sex tapes of the minister in exchange for money. Verma has denied any connection with the recovered disks."The government of Chhattisgarh is not happy with me. I just have a pen drive and have nothing to do with a CD," he said, as per the report.CNN-News 18 reported that the police had allegedly recovered 500 CDs, apparently carrying sex tapes of the minister, from Verma's residence. However, it is unclear if the CDs were planted or Verma had indeed created copies.The veteran journalist is a member of the Editors Guild of India and has worked in media houses such as BBC and Amar Ujala.