India News

Biggest sex scandal yet: Madhya Pradesh honeytrap ring ensnares politicians, bureaucrats

India’s biggest sex racket, run by a former BJP Yuva Morcha leader in Madhya Pradesh to trap the rich and powerful, may spread to other states.

Published

7 years ago

September 26, 2019

The country’s biggest sex racket, allegedly run by a former BJP Yuva Morcha leader in Madhya Pradesh, to trap the rich and powerful, has kicked up a storm that may spread to other states.

Reports say nearly 4,000 files consisting of sex chats, video and audio clips featuring bureaucrats and politicians have been extracted from the laptops and mobile phones confiscated from the honeytrap ring that allegedly hooked a large number of movers and shakers in the state.

More and more skeletons are tumbling out of the closet as forensic experts work overtime to dig into memory cards and retrieve erased photos and videos. The list of digital files is likely to touch 5,000 soon, said officers, according to a Times of India (TOI) report.

A dozen top bureaucrats and eight former ministers of Madhya Pradesh are being investigated in the case, reported NDTV. Those lured into the trap include a former Chief Minister and Governor of Madhya Pradesh, according to an India Today report.

The ring leader

The racket was run by Shweta Jain, a former general secretary of BJP Yuva Morcha, who runs a local NGO and rents the house of a BJP MLA, Brijendra Pratap Singh.

Amid the political slugfest that broke out after the high-profile honey-trapping and blackmailing racket came to light, the Congress has released photos of the mastermind campaigning for the BJP in 2013 and 2018. Madhya Pradesh Congress Vice-President Arunodey Choubey has reportedly alleged that Shweta Jain was a star campaigner of the BJP in Madhya Pradesh assembly elections of 2013 and 2018.

The police has arrested five women, identifying them as Shweta Jain, 39, another woman of the same name, Barkha Soni Bhatnagar, 35, Arti Dayal, 34, and an 18-year-old college student Monica Yadav. Arti Dayal’s driver was also arrested.

Barkha Soni is the wife of former Congress IT cell official Amit Soni, said a media report.

The gang was caught after an Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) officer Harbhajan Singh filed a complaint against Arti Dayal accusing her of demanding Rs. 3 crore from him.

When Dayal travelled to Indore to allegedly receive Rs. 50 lakh as the first installment of the extortion sum, she was arrested, the police said. The others were arrested based on her interrogation. The IMC officer has been suspended.

The sex racket

Those honey-trapped by the gang range from very senior bureaucrats to junior project engineers, and top BJP and Congress leaders.

The women running the racket used sex workers and young college girls, the police say. More than 40 call girls, including a few B-grade actresses from Bollywood were engaged to honey-trap bureaucrats and politicians. The hundreds of mobile phone contacts uncovered in raids suggest the scam may not have been limited to Madhya Pradesh.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of MP police led by Additional Director General of Police (ADGP), Sanjeev Shami, is gathering clinching evidence by matching video clips with the location of sites where it was shot by the call girls or by the women running the sex and blackmailing racket.

In her interrogation, the ring leader Shweta Jain has allegedly said at least two dozen college students, mostly from lower middle class families, were used to seduce top officials and politicians. She has reportedly admitted that she lured many college girls with the promise of jobs and by flaunting a luxurious lifestyle featuring Audi cars and five-star hotel rooms.

Shweta Jain hired top call girls to honeytrap bureaucrats and politicians holding important offices of the state government. “After initial interaction with a bureaucrat or a minister, Shweta used to invite the ‘target’ for sex, to a guest house or a five star suite of her choice. Once the ‘target’ was involved in a sexual act, his video was recorded either by a hidden mobile or a spy cam,” a report by news agency quoted an unnamed SIT officer as saying.

Some of the ‘target’ who flew to Mumbai or Delhi on official tours were provided models and Bollywood actresses, often on their demand. However, SIT has still to seize such video clips where any known actress could be seen.

During her interrogation Shweta reportedly confessed that once a Minister or Secretary was honey-trapped, his favour was sought in procuring lucrative government contracts for the NGO run by Shweta. Sources said that Shweta admitted that the NGO run by her husband was obliged with Rs 8 crore contract from the Bhopal Municipal Corporation. Many such contracts running into several crores were secured from various state government departments such as PWD, Housing, Social Welfare and other Government corporations. Shweta also admitted that a former CM of MP gifted her a bunglow in Minal Residency, in posh Bhopal area.

Besides Shweta Jain, another women Aarti Dayal, arrested by the SIT, admitted during her questioning that she came in contact with a senior IAS officer of MP cadre who introduced her to several ministers. Aarti said she continued to oblige the IAS officer who also arranged a flat for her in Bhopal. Later the flat, occupied by Aarti became a den of all sorts of illicit deals.

Aarti also revealed that spy cameras were installed in a few rooms of the flat where politicians, bureaucrats and top government engineers were stung in a compromising position. Aarti also employed call girls in performing sting operations. In a few cases, Aarti also obliged ministers by engaging B grade Bollywood heroines and models.

Like Shweta, the mastermind of the racket, Aarti also floated an NGO to procure large amount of government funds from the bureaucrats and the Ministers concerned in lieu of providing them call girls. Aarti also revealed that only in rare cases the ‘target’ was confronted with the spy cam recordings as in most of the cases, the “target” used to easily facilitate government funds to her NGO.

A case could be registered against these high profile persons, once it is established that they obliged the women with government funds or lucrative contracts.

As per the provisions of Prevention of Corruption Act, only those government servants (including Ministers) could be charged who have granted out-of-turn contracts or funds from the treasury to the sex-blackmail syndicates. Participation in illicit sex activities does not attract sections of the Corruption Act, though action can be taken under Service Conduct rules.

Trafficking case registered

CID on Wednesday registered a case of human trafficking against three of the honeytrap suspects on the basis of a complaint lodged by the father of the youngest accused, an 18-year-old, who was arrested on the basis of an extortion complaint by Indore Municipal Corporation engineer Harbhajan Singh, and is in police custody.

A farmer whose daughter has also filed a case claiming she was lured into the scandal on the pretext of getting a government job, said: “Aarti Dayal, one of the accused, and Abhishek came to our village and convinced us that they would bear all the expenses of my daughter’s education and help her get government job.”

The farmer claimed that his daughter had told him that Dayal and others had trapped many young girls in the name of providing government jobs and forced them to honey trap influential persons. “My daughter told me to inform villagers not to send their daughters with Dayal as she was not a good person.”

Senior superintendent of police, Indore, Ruchi Vardhan Mishra said all of them will also be booked for human trafficking. “The accused were not cooperating in investigation. Arti Dayal often fainted which made her interrogation difficult,” Mishra added.

Related Topics:BJP Congress Honeytrap Indore Madhya Pradesh Sex Racket Sex Scandal Shweta Jain Special Investigating Team Yuva Morcha

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Hardeep Singh Puri elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has been elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh after the nominations of two other candidates, including a Congress-backed nominee, were rejected.

Published

37 mins ago

November 5, 2026

APNLive Desk

Union Petroleum Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Hardeep Singh Puri has been elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh. The announcement was made on Thursday after the deadline for withdrawal of nominations ended, leaving Puri as the only candidate in the contest.

Puri’s election followed the rejection of nomination papers filed by two other candidates, Kante Sayanna and Rajkumar Lohani, who was backed by the Opposition Congress. Their nominations were rejected during the scrutiny process, making Puri the sole candidate remaining in the fray.

Returning Officer Umesh Sharma formally declared Puri elected to the Upper House of Parliament. Madhya Pradesh BJP president Hemant Khandelwal collected his certificate of election from the returning officer in the presence of party MLA Rameshwar Sharma.

Why Hardeep Singh Puri was elected unopposed

The Madhya Pradesh Rajya Sabha bypoll witnessed three candidates initially entering the contest. However, the nomination papers of the two other candidates did not clear scrutiny.

Kante Sayanna and Congress-backed candidate Rajkumar Lohani had their nominations rejected during the examination of election papers. With both candidates out of the contest, Puri remained the only candidate.

As a result, the returning officer declared him elected unopposed on the final day of withdrawal of nominations on November 5.

The bypoll, if required, had been scheduled to take place on November 12.

Why the Madhya Pradesh Rajya Sabha seat fell vacant

The by-election became necessary following the resignation of former Union minister L Murugan from the Rajya Sabha last month.

Murugan’s departure created a vacancy in the Upper House from Madhya Pradesh. His original term was scheduled to continue until April 2, 2030.

The BJP subsequently nominated Hardeep Singh Puri as its candidate for the by-election.

Puri, a former diplomat who later entered politics, currently serves as the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas.

India News

Amit Shah challenges Rahul Gandhi to debate SIR in Parliament

Amit Shah responded to Rahul Gandhi’s public debate challenge by inviting him to discuss the SIR exercise in Parliament. He also criticised the Congress over its demand for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation.

Published

4 hours ago

November 5, 2026

APNLive Desk

Union Home Minister Amit Shah has challenged Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to take up his demand for a public debate with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Parliament, saying the government is ready to convene a special session to discuss the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.

Addressing a rally in Haryana’s Karnal, Shah directly responded to Gandhi’s challenge to the Prime Minister, asking the Congress leader to write to PM Modi if he wanted a discussion.

“I want to challenge Rahul Gandhi directly. You challenge PM Modi for a discussion? If you want a discussion, simply write a letter to PM Modi. We are ready to convene a special session of Parliament to discuss the SIR exercise… Come and debate in Parliament,” Shah said.

The remarks came two days after Rahul Gandhi issued another public debate challenge to the Prime Minister.

On November 3, Gandhi wrote in a post on X that PM Modi could choose any stage or venue for a discussion. He proposed debating allegations concerning who was anti-national and who had connections with foreign forces, adding that the media and the country’s youth should also be present.

Amit Shah targets Congress over SIR controversy

During his address, Shah also criticised the Congress over its demand for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

Referring to the 2014, 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Home Minister argued that the Congress had lost despite no Special Intensive Revision exercise being conducted during those elections.

“Where was the SIR in 2014? You were completely wiped out even then. Where was SIR in 2019? You lost. There was no SIR in 2024 either, yet you lost again,” he said.

Shah also referred to the elections in Haryana and Maharashtra, claiming that there was no SIR exercise in either state when the Congress suffered electoral defeats.

He accused the Opposition of disrupting parliamentary proceedings and organising protests on the streets instead of allowing Parliament to function.

Shah criticises Rahul Gandhi over protests

The Home Minister further alleged that Rahul Gandhi and the Congress were creating disorder through street protests and parliamentary boycotts.

Shah said BJP workers would give a “fitting reply” if Gandhi continued to mobilise crowds on the streets.

He also questioned Gandhi’s claim to have mobilised large numbers of people for a rally in Delhi, alleging that the venue had a capacity of 70,000 and was still half empty despite an appeal to bring 10 lakh people.

“The people of the country have consistently defeated Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party. The people of the country are not with you or the Opposition alliance,” Shah said.

Amit Shah raises questions over Rahul Gandhi’s foreign visits

Shah also sought details about Rahul Gandhi’s foreign visits, arguing that people had a right to know about them.

“You’re Leader of Opposition… People have the right to know,” the Home Minister said.

His remarks came amid the continuing political confrontation between the BJP and Congress over the SIR exercise, electoral processes and the Opposition’s criticism of the Election Commission.

India News

Women’s cash schemes in Chhattisgarh ease inflation, not entrepreneurship

Published

5 hours ago

November 5, 2026

vikram

By Neeraj Mishra

As Chhattisgarh celebrated its 26^th Foundation Day with Home Minister Amit Shah as chief guest, there are worries about the cash programmes for women.

With the payment of the 33^rd consecutive monthly installment of Mahtari Vandan Yojana to more than 67 lakh beneficiaries, Chhattisgarh has created a record of sorts. The 67 lakh women are supposed to have received a monthly cash dole of Rs 1000 per head in their accounts totaling to a mammoth Rs 21,350 crore. It translates into a very neat Rs 33000 per head for each married woman over the age of 21 so far.

And all these women are KYC- checked and receive the direct benefit transfer. If there are an average of three married women in a joint family, then the amount totals to better than the average rise in paddy prices. That’s not all, there are six other women’s schemes which provide easy loans and rent free shops in good locations. These schemes pump in a further Rs 11,000 crore into each household every year. Further, the renamed MNREGA has another Rs 16,200 crore reserved for the state every year.

So far so good and it reads like a state government PR pamphlet. Now for the bad news. The cash dole has so far been absorbed by the family itself because of the inordinate rise in fuel prices. By all accounts only 23 per cent of the households who receive gas cylinders are able to continue buying it. Only 15 per cent of those who received loans for various trades including e-rickshaws have been able to sustain it. This is roughly about 41,000 women so far.

The state had also invested in physical infrastructure like sheds and shops for trades like mushroom farming, goat farming and small size hatcheries. Some shops were given rent free on prime locations in Raipur, Durg and Bilaspur etc. Most of these facilities have been abandoned as the self-help groups (SHGs) formed for the purpose haven’t been able to convert it into a profitable venture. In fact, each SHG, which usually has 11 women, is given a monthly encouragement amount of Rs 15,000 which is now being split amongst the group with nothing to show for it. Most sheds have either broken down or have become illegally occupied. Better still, the shops have been handed over to businessmen to recover some of the cost.

“The main reason these schemes have not had the desired effect is lack of training and a general apathy on part of the entrepreneurs because of easy cash,” said an official. And that best sums it up.