Sleaze CD Case: Now Journalists Accuse Cops Of Groping 

Raipur: Three women journalists have alleged that they were "groped" by policemen on Sunday when they tried to speak with ex-scribe Vinod Verma, who is in police custody for being part of an alleged conspiracy to extort money from a prominent Chhattisgarh minister over a sex CD.

The arrest of Verma has triggered a slugfest between the Congress and the BJP. Their complaint was registered post-midnight, after a four-hour dharna by dozens of journalists. On Monday, the Raipur range SP suspended a crime branch officer and ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident.

When journalists rushed towards Verma to get a bite after the court remanded him in police custody in the afternoon, a milee broke out and the women journalists were allegedly groped by the police. Police were under instructions not to allow Verma to talk to reporters, so the cops started pushing cameramen and mediapersons away. In the commotion, three women journalists were pushed by some cops, who allegedly touched them inappropriately — not once but repeatedly.

There was not a single policewoman around to handle women journalists during the incident. One of the women alleged that she was also kicked by a policeman.

The incident triggered outrage among journalists, who marched from the court to the Civil Lines police station demanding an FIR and immediate action agasinst the policemen who misbehaved.