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MUMBAI: The Mumbai police’s crime branch probing the TRP manipulating scam has summoned Republic TV’s chief operating officer (COO) Priya Mukherjee on Tuesday, November 17. Police said she has been called in connection with the information obtained about the activities of Ghanshyam Singh (44), the distribution head of ARG Outlier Media Pvt Ltd (that operates Republic TV). Singh, who was arrested last week on charges of distributing money to other accused in the scam in order to increase the channel’s TRPs, was produced before the holiday court on Friday and further remanded in police custody till November 16.
Police said they found that Singh, in connivance with cable operators and Multi System Operators (MSOs), ran Republic TV on Dual Logical Channel Numbers (LCNs) or two frequencies, which is a violation of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) guidelines. When a channel is run on multiple frequencies, it enjoys multiple slots across genres — for example, a news channel could also appear in the movie or entertainment categories. “Singh allegedly paid money to cable operators and MSOs to run the channel on two frequencies, which helped them rig TRPs. We want to investigate financial aspects…,” an officer who did not wish to be named said.
Congress: ‘Direct nexus’ between BJP & Republic TV
Congress on Friday alleged that BJP and Republic TV had a “direct nexus,” and the Anvay Naik suicide case was deliberately suppressed during Devendra Fadnavis’s tenure as CM. Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant at a juncture when the Congress was making efforts to do justice to the Naik family, BJP was doubting the integrity of the Naik family. “We are stunned over the campaign launched against the women members of the Naik family. Even now, efforts are being made to suppress any further probe,” Sawant said. BJP leader Kirit Somaiya had pointed to land deals between the Thackerays and Naik’s family. Sawant said BJP has maintained silence over the manner in which the family was cheated.
