A day after a senior journalist was arrested from his home near Delhi after being accused by a Chhattisgarh minister of blackmailing him, the police have filed an FIR against the state's Congress chief over a complaint by the minister. Minister Rajesh Munat had filed the complaint against Chhattisgarh Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel after Mr Baghel said he possessed a copy of a sex CD purportedly featuring the minister. Mr Munat has called the CD "fake" and said it can be investigated by any agency

Possession of the CD was why Vinod Verma, an independent journalist and a member of the Editors Guild of India, says he was arrested yesterday from his home in Ghaziabad by a police team that flew in from Raipur around 4 am.

The Chhattisgarh government has claimed Mr Verma was working with the opposition Congress to discredit the BJP government. The journalist, it says, is related to state Congress chief Bhupesh Baghel. Mr Baghel has denied it. The state government has now recommended a CBI probe into the case.