Raipur, Oct 6 (IANS) A CD that allegedly shows that former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi’s son Amit was acquitted in a 2003 murder case because the Congress leader bribed the judge has charged up the political atmosphere in the state, where assembly polls are due to be held by year-end.The CD was released at a press conference here Oct 1 by families of two former Youth Congress members Yahya Dhebar and Abhay Goel, who were sentenced to life imprisonment for their role in the June 4, 2003, murder of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) state unit treasurer Ramavtar Jaggi.

The Dhebar and Goel families had for years been close to the family of Ajit Jogi, who was the chief minister at the time of Jaggi’s murder.

The controversial CD shows Ajay Tidke, son of district and sessions court judge B.L. Tidke, claiming that his father acquitted Amit in May 2007 as he was given a bribe of Rs.2.5 million.

The Jaggi murder was probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which charge-sheeted Amit Jogi as prime accused along with several others as co-accused. However, judge B.L. Tikde acquitted 31-year-old Amit Jogi and convicted the 28 others.

The CD has now given the Bharatiya Janata Party, ruling the state, an opportunity to score points against rival Congress leader Ajit Jogi.

BJP national spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad rushed to Raipur Oct 2 and told reporters: “I have gone through the CD. It’s a very serious issue and the high court should take suo motto cognisance of it.”

BJP workers as well as anti-Jogi factions in the state Congress have been distributing copies of the CD across the state and screening it at busy squares to derive political mileage.

On Saturday, Ajay Tidke lodged a first information report (FIR) against the Dhebar and Goel families and they responded with a counter FIR against him the next day.

“Both parties have lodged FIRs against each other. The FIRs are basically about criminal intimidation, not about the authenticity of the CD,” Superintendent of Police Amit Kumar told IANS.

The Dhebars and Goels met Chief Minister Raman Singh last week and sought a high-level probe into Amit Jogi’s acquittal.

The BJP youth wing and several smaller parties have also sought appointments with Governor E.S.L Narasimhan to seek his intervention for a high-level probe into Amit Jogi’s acquital.