Ghaziabad: A senior journalist was picked up by a team of the Chhattisgarh Police early on Friday from his house here in Uttar Pradesh.

While there is no clarity on why journalist Vinod Verma was taken into custody, sources said he was arrested after a complaint of extortion was lodged against him in Chhattisgarh.

Although initial reports suggested that it was a joint operation by the police of both states, the Uttar Pradesh Police clarified that it had “nothing to do with it”.

Rahul Srivastava, PRO at the DGP office in Lucknow, that a case under sections 384 and 506 of the IPC had been lodged against Verma in Pandri police station of Raipur district.

Unconfirmed reports suggested that Verma, who in the past has worked with Amar Ujala and the BBC, was planning a sting operation against a senior Minister in the Chhattisgarh government.

Sources said Verma was trying to extort money from the Minister. Several CDs, pen drives and some documents have been confiscated by the police.