MP honey trap case: Cops nab tabloid owner who published sex tapes
Madhya Pradesh’s controversial businessman, wanted for the past seven months in connection with over 40 cases, including serious crimes such as rape and human trafficking, was arrested by Indore crime branch police on Sunday (June 28).
Madhya Pradesh’s controversial businessman, wanted for the past seven months in connection with over 40 cases, including serious crimes such as rape and human trafficking, was arrested by Indore crime branch police on Sunday (June 28).
Jeetu Soni, who had a reward of ₹1.6 lakh in his name and was on the most wanted list for crimes including land grabbing, blackmailing, rape, extortion and fraud, was arrest from his native Amreli district in Gujarat, a senior police officer said.
Soni, who is the owner of a tabloid Sanjha Lokswami in Madhya Pradesh, allegedly had close contact with both Congress and BJP leaders in the state. However, he was left alone when his newspaper published transcripts of the high-profile honey trap racket.
Indore Edition (18/11/19)
For Daily E-paper Updates click on this link (link: https://t.co/TVyaf2O0tQ) https://t.co/TVyaf2O0tQ#Lokswami #Newspaper #Indore #MadhyaPradesh #DailyNews #Information #GoodNews pic.twitter.com/snuiddu81Z
— Sanjha Lokswami (@lokswamionline) November 18, 2019
According to a report in The New Indian Express, the incident that jolted the political, bureaucratic, and police circles in the state last year, occurred due to the publishing of private conversation between the woman arrested in connection with the honey trap case and their high-profile targets. It is also alleged that some audio clips of the private conversations were also uploaded on a YouTube channel.
His tabloid ran articles centred around a sex scandal that was busted in September last year, involving senior advisors of Shivraj Singh Chouhan during his previous term as the chief minister.
Related news: MP sex racket: police find 1K video clips used to honey trap the rich, powerful
Under the Congress regime, the businessman owned a dance bar, two bungalows, a hotel, and restaurant among other properties, which were also raided while three of them were demolished.
Five women and a man were arrested in the racket for allegedly blackmailing several influential people using the sex tapes.
हुश्न की भट्टी में तपते दारूड़िये 'पंडितजी' उबल पड़े pic.twitter.com/eYUQNBuWEh
— Sanjha Lokswami (@lokswamionline) November 18, 2019
Last year, the state police had seized thousands of files from the laptops, mobile phones, and other devices of the accused arrested in the case.
Deputy Inspector General of Police HN Chari Mishra, revealed that as many as 12 teams of the Indore crime branch were on the lookout for the two brothers in different parts of the neighbouring Gujarat following intelligence inputs.
“It’s not only Jeetu Soni, but many other land sharks, including his brother Mahendra Soni and two other land sharks, Champu Ajmera and Happy Dhawan, who too have been arrested by the city crime branch in a dedicated crackdown against absconding criminals over last few days,” the DIG-Indore told The New Indian Express.
