In July this year, a video clip purportedly showing a top Madhya Pradesh bureaucrat P.C. Meena in a compromising position with a woman went viral across the state’s political, bureaucratic and media circles.
Within days, Meena, a 1984-batch IAS officer serving as the additional chief secretary (general administration) with a year of service left, was shunted out as director of the Tribal Research and Development Institute. The ‘sex video’ sent shock waves across the state’s power corridors and MP chief secretary S.R. Mohanty ordered a probe. Sources tells Outlook that intelligence inputs gathered over the next month suggested that several top-ranking politicians and bureaucrats had similar skeletons in their cupboards but a common link to an organised honey trap racket was still premature to conclude.
On September 17, Harbhajan Singh, an Indore Municipal Corporation officer filed a police complaint of blackmail and extortion against two women, Aarti Dayal (29) and Monica Yadav (18), who had allegedly threatened to release his smut tape to the press. While Singh was sus pended owing to alleged misdemeanor, his complaint set off a domino effect that has now unsettled the entire political and bureaucratic brass of MP.
A total of six people have so far been arrested in the honey trap scandal. Besides Dayal and Yadav, the accused include Shweta Vijay Jain (49), the alleged kingpin of the racket, Shweta Swapnil Jain (39) and Barkha Soni (34), and their driver Om Prakash Kori (45).
Shweta Vijay Jain was an office-bearer of the BJP’s youth wing till a few years ago. Shweta Swapnil Jain too had BJP connections and, since her arrest, various photo graphs of her attending the party’s functions have been in circulation.
Esta historia es de la edición October 14, 2019 de Outlook.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición October 14, 2019 de Outlook.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Dera, Drugs And Despair
Punjab poll pitch is seeing interesting twists and turns this election season
Allure Of Hatefulness Beyond Hate Speech
Polarisation between the Hindus and the Muslims is an unappetising reality, an ugliness that will not go away even after the votes get counted
Shine Off Sonar Bangla
Since the ant displacement movements against the Left Front government in 2006-08, Bengal has seen increased corruption, communalisation of politics and the rise of welfarism
Carnatic Cauldron
For the BJP-led NDA, 400 paar will remain a dream if the South Indian states choose to look the other way
The Young & the Restless
A new crop of young Dalit leaders shine in Uttar Pradesh's political Armament
In The Name Of Ram
For the people of Hazaribagh, famous for its Ram Navamii, life is a tussle between peace, processions and politics
Shell Company?
The power play between the BJP and the BJD in Odisha appears to be an electoral gimmick. Post elections, they may have each other's back
Peak Season in the Pir Panjal
Politicians excel at stirring up emotions at election time, and Kashmiris are torn between responding with cries or slogans
Seeds of Betrayal
Forget about doubling their income, Haryana's farmers are living a life in penury
Capital Contest
Could an alliance of former foes prevent a hat-trick for the BJP in Delhi?