The Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh says that they have uncovered a racket under which news channels tried to increase their channel’s TRP (television rating points) by paying money.
Param Bir Singh gave information about this by holding a conference on Thursday i.e 8th October 2020.
According to him, the Mumbai police have just come to know about 3 channels that are involved in this alleged racket. The Police Commissioner of Mumbai said that Republic TV is also included in this. According to Singh, Republic TV has tampered with the TRP system.
Republic TV has dismissed all these allegations.
The channel’s editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami issued a statement saying, “Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh has falsely accused Republic TV because we had questioned him in the case of Sushant Singh case. Against Republic TV Mumbai Police Commissioner Criminal defamation case will be filed. There is not a single report of BARC which mentions Republic TV. The Mumbai Police Commissioner should officially apologize or we should be ready to be seen in court.”
According to the police commissioner Param Bir Singh, the owners of two Marathi channels have also been arrested.
Police said that the TRP is directly related to the money received from the advertisement and if there is a slight difference in the TRP, then it affects the income of thousands of crores.
The police have arrested 2 people in this case. Police has also claimed to have recovered Rs 20 lakh from them.
According to the police, bank accounts of suspected channels are also being investigated and it will also be seen whether the advertisement received on the basis of fake TRPs will be the money of crime.
What are the main charges
The agency named BARC decides the TRP. According to the Mumbai Police, BARC has given this work to an agency named Hansa. According to the police, some officials of the Hansa agency had made a deal to increase their TRP by taking money from a particular channel.
Around 2 thousand barometers have been installed in Mumbai. But the police say that if this is happening in Mumbai, then there is every possibility that the same game was being played in other areas of the country.
According to the Mumbai police, people were given 400-500 rupees every month to put a particular news channel in their homes on their TV.
The police commissioner Singh said that action will also be taken against those responsible for the channels. Singh said that according to the investigation, whoever needs to be called or questioned will be processed accordingly, no matter how big the official of the channel is.
The Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh said that summons will also be sent to Arnab Goswami, owner and editor-in-chief of the Republic TV.
According to the commissioner, the whole matter is being investigated under the supervision of a Joint Commissioner level officer.
