Congress leaders and workers in Chhattisgarh courted arrest on Tuesday against what they claimed "framing" of party's state unit president Bhupesh Baghel by the BJP government in a "sex CD" case allegedly involving a ruling minister.
Baghel is currently in judicial remand in the case.
A total of 732 Congress leaders and workers were arrested in Raipur, police said.
However, Congress communication wing chief Shailesh Nitin Trivedi claimed that around 30,000 workers were arrested across the state.
"The Congress took out a morcha from the Congress Bhawan which passed through Shankar Nagar. It was stopped near Lodhi Para chowk," Inspector General of Police (Raipur range) Dipanshu Kabra told PTI.
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A total of 732 leaders and workers of the Congress, including AICC state incharge PL Punia, Leader of Opposition in Assembly TS Singhdeo and MP Tamradhwaj Sahu, were arrested there, he said, adding that they were later released unconditionally.
Trivedi alleged that the ruling BJP was trying to "falsely implicate" Baghel into the case as part of a conspiracy.
The state government was frustrated after the Congress staged a massive protest against the lathi charge on its leaders and workers in Bilaspur district on September 18, he said.
He said a 'jail bharo' agitation will be held in all development block headquarters Wednesday and at all the district headquarters on September 27.
A "porn video" allegedly involving Public Works Department minister Rajesh Munat had surfaced last October, after Raipur police arrested senior journalist Vinod Verma in Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh).
The CBI on Monday fileda charge sheet in a special court here into the the sex CD case in which Baghel and five others have been named as accused.
According to the CBI, all the six accused entered into a criminal conspiracy for the purpose of making the morphed sex video depicting Chhattisgarh minister Rajesh Munat in a sexually explicit position and also circulating the same to harm his reputation.
Baghel declined to engage a lawyer or apply for bail Monday.
He was sent to jail on a judicial remand for 14 days by the special court.
Baghel had said he was falsely implicated in the case and announced to sit on 'satyagrah' in the jail to protest against the BJP government.
Meanwhile, state Health Minister Ajay Chandrakar has described Baghel's decision of not applying for bail as a drama.
"Had they (Congress leaders) read and followed Mahatma Gandhiji, they would have known what a real Satyagraha is like. This is not a 'stayagrah' but a 'sattagrah' in quest of power," he told a press conference here.
Giving the name of 'satyagraha' to a heinous crime is the height of "mansik diwaliyapan" (mental bankruptcy), the minister said.
"The people of the state have always rejected criminals and the CPCC President, who has been accused of a heinous crime like character and political assassination, will never be tolerated," Chandrakar said.
Responding to a query over alleged involvement of BJP leader Kailash Murarka in the case, the minister said the former was already expelled from the party.
"We are expecting same treatment to Baghel from the Congress," he said.
All the six accused were booked under sections 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 67A of the IT Act (whoever publishes or transmits or causes to be published or transmitted in the electronic form any material which contains sexually explicit act).
Baghel told reporters Monday that he was being falsely implicated in the case.
A case of blackmail and extortion had been registered at the Pandri police station in Raipur on a complaint filed by BJP leader Prakash Bajaj who stated that he "was being harassed over phone by an unidentified caller who told him that he had a CD of his 'aaka' (master)".
After investigation, a search team was sent to Delhi and Verma was arrested from Ghaziabad on October 27, 2017, the police had said while claiming to have recovered 500 CDs and pen drives etc.
After Verma was arrested, the sex video surfaced in Raipur, triggering a political slugfest between the Congress and the BJP.
Munat then lodged a complaint against Bhupesh Baghel and Verma at the Civil Lines police station in Raipur for allegedly tarnishing his image through the "fake CD".
The Chhattisgarh government had then recommended a CBI probe into the incident.
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