RAIPUR: The arrest of a former BBC journalist by Chattisgarh police early Friday morning near Ghaziabad on charges of extortion is becoming a political row with the opposition Congress claiming that the issue allegedly involves a sex video clip of a powerful minister in the Raman Singh government.

Vinod Verma,  the journalist, maintained that he was innocent and was being framed, ANI reported.

"The government of Chhattisgarh is not happy with me. I just have a pen drive, and have nothing to do with a CD. Clearly, I am being framed," ANI quoted Verma as saying.

"I have a sex CD of Chhattisgarh minister Rajesh Munat and that is why the state government is not happy with me," he added, reported ANI.

Verma, who is a member of Editors Guild of India, was picked up for questioning from his Ghaziabad home and was arrested later by Chhattisgarh police team on the basis of a complaint lodged by one Prakash Bajaj of BJP IT Cell, who alleged that Verma had phoned demanding money for not exposing a powerful leader claiming that a video was in his possession.

Acting on the complaint lodged at Pandri Police Station, crime branch traced a video parlour in New Delhi and its proprietor told the police that a person, whom he identified as Vinod Verma, had placed orders for making 1000 CDs. Subsequently, police swooped down on Verma's house and seized 500 CDS, pen drives, laptops and detained him.

Later, Verma will be produced before a court in New Delhi to seek transit remand to bring him to the state capital, a police spokesman said in Raipur.

However, the police did not elaborate anything on the contents of the CDs seized from Verma's possession.

Senior BJP leaders in Chhattisgarh told TOI that Vinod Verma is a close relative of Chattigarh Pradesh Congress committee president Bhupesh Baghel and has been closely associated with him for the last one year, allegedly managing his social media and related activities.

Meanwhile, state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel hurriedly convened a press meet at his residence claiming that arrest of Vinod Verma was closely linked with a sex video clip involving a powerful minister in the Raman Singh government. "Since the sex CD is of a minister, the police went for a pre-dawn arrest", he said and demanded a probe and a forensic examination of the video clip.

Immediately, after the pre-dawn arrest of the senior journalist, the sex clip went viral on social media, including in WhatsApp groups.

State BJP spokesman Srichand Sundarani described the scandal as a Congress conspiracy to defame the BJP government saying that PCC chief Bhupesh Baghel should make his stand clear about his relations with the arrested journalist Vinod Verma.