Lalit Shastri

Bhopal: Some NGOs have been running on sex and sleaze in the central Indian State of Madhya Pradesh for several years.

What’s been happening in the corridors of power in the State over the years is murky business.

Honey is money and money for honey

Following a series of raids on the residential and other premises of five accused women arrested for a high-profile sex scandal, which the media has preferred to describe as “honey trap“, the Madhya Pradesh police have stumbled on external drives, laptops and smartphones that are loaded with sex-chat, sexy text messages and video clips allegedly showing these women romping in bed with VIPs who matter. These could be equated with hard-porn and have been recorded by the accused themselves, who have been operating from the State capital and Indore – the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh.

Public money for sexual favours

The arrested women, it is alleged, had used their political clout and connections cutting across party lines to befriend, seduce and sexually gratify top polticians – from both the BJP and Congress, senior bureaucrats and officers who matter with the sole purpose of either blackmailing them to extract money or securing from them government orders running into crores (millions) to fund the activities of different NGOs.

Big fish in the net

The women, who have been arrested and grilled by the police in this case are Monika Yadav (18), Aarti Dayal (29), Barkha Soni (34), Shweta Vijay Jain(39) and Shweta Swapnil Jain (48). Following their interrogation, these women have also been accused of roping in and dragging many young girls and women in their sex racket and a case of human trafficking also has been registered against them. The list of men involved with these women reads like a hall of fame. The names doing the rounds in different sections of both -mainstream and social media, include those of a former Governor, a former chief minister, a member of Parliament, couple of serving and former state ministers, a number senior IAS and IPS officers and others.

The police swung into action and busted the sex racket after Harbhajan Singh, a Superintendent Engineer with Indore Municipal Corporation lodged a complaint earlier this month (September 2019) with the Indore police alleging that he was being blackmailed by some women who were demanding Rs 3 crore in exchange for some objectionable video clips.

This case should reach its logical conclusion as it has now been handed over to a Special Investigation Team (SIT). The big question is who will conduct a probe into the gratification, in the form of public money, extended as a reward for easy sex. Who is going to evaluate the loss to the public exchequer, who will pay for it and who will punish the rogues who have played havoc and taken the government’s decision making process for a ride?