MP honey-trap case: Suspend civic engineer, says Indore mayor

The mayor of Indore on Sunday asked the Madhya Pradesh government to suspend a civic engineer here who blew the lid off a honey-trapping and blackmailing racket. Five women and a man were arrested in Indore and Bhopal on Wednesday and Thursday for allegedly running the racket, and police had seized electronic gadgets including spy cameras as well as mobile phones and cash.

The police action came after Indore Municipal Corporation superintendent engineer Harbhajan Singh complained that he was being blackmailed to the tune of Rs 3 crore over objectionable video clips. MP police had identified the accused as Aarti Dayal (29), Monica Yadav (18), Shweta Vijay Jain (39), Shweta Swapnil Jain (48), Barkha Soni (34) and Omprakash Kori (45).

"This immoral act has brought disgrace to the IMC. I rang up MP Urban Development and HousingMinister Jaivardhan Singh on Sunday and asked him to suspend IMC superintendent engineer Harbhajan Singh immediately," Mayor Malini Laxman Singh told reporters here. "The IMC official getting trapped in the racket is shameful and has dented the civic body's image," she added.

Meanwhile, a local court extended the police remand of accused Aarti Dayal (29) and Monica Yadav (18) till September 28, and sent driver Omprakash Kori (45) to judicial custody. Dayal and Yadav complained of uneasiness and were brought to Maharaj Yeshwantrao Hospital here, but they were sent back to police custody after a medical check-up, said MYH superintendent Dr PS Thakur.

Other accused Shweta Vijay Jain (39), Shweta Swapnil Jain (48) and Barkha Soni (34) are in judicial custody..