TRP Scam: 2 Republic editors quizzed by Mumbai police

Executive Editor Niranjan Narayanaswamy and Senior Executive Editor Abhishek Kapoor joined the TRP scam linked investigation after they were summoned on Tuesday.

Two editors of Republic TV were questioned by the Mumbai Police crime branch in connection with an investigation into the alleged manipulation of Television Rating Points.

Executive Editor Niranjan Narayanaswamy and Senior Executive Editor Abhishek Kapoor joined the investigation after they were summoned on Tuesday.

The editors are being questioning the report put out by Republic TV on October 10 in which it aired a document that purportedly belonged to the Hansa Research Group, a private firm through which ratings agency Broadcast Audience Research Council filed a complaint about TRP manipulation.

The Crime Branch summon stated that "there are reasonable grounds to believe that the summoned persons are acquainted with certain facts and circumstances of the document and same is required to be ascertained from them".

The channel though claims that the summons are part of a desperate witchhunt by Mumbai Police chief Param Bir Singh and that the need to reveal sources is a reminder of the 'Emergency days'.

In a statement, the news channel said: “It is shocking that the summons issued to them demands that they reveal the source of the Hansa Research Group Private Ltd complaint that bludgeoned the lies that the state machinery in Maharashtra tried to peddle against the news network."