Republic TV CFO to appear before Mumbai police; Officials from advertising agencies summoned
Republic TV's CFO has been called for questioning on Saturday in connection with the Television Rating Points (TRP) manipulation racket. A local court in Mumbai on Friday has sent four people accused in the TRP scam to police custody till October 13.
FollowMumbai: Republic TV CFO Shiva Subramaniyam Sundaram will appear before Mumbai Police on Saturday over allegations that the news channel has paid people to game its ratings and illegally earn more ad revenue.
Shiva Subramaiyam Sundaram is the first senior figure from Republic TV to be summoned in connection with the scandal that broke on Thursday after BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) alleged the numbers were being fudged by certain channels.
Republic TV is the biggest name to have emerged from early inquiries, with viewers confirming they were paid to keep the channel on even when they were not watching.
Also read: India reports 73,272 new COVID-19 cases and 926 deaths in last 24 hours
The police intend to carry out a forensic audit of Republic TV's accounts, which could be frozen if it were established that the channel pocketed extra advertising money using rigged ratings.
The summons to Shiva Subramaiyam Sundaram asserts that there are reasonable grounds to believe he is acquainted with certain facts and circumstances of the matter.
 The police have also summoned accountants from the two other channels and those from a couple of advertising agencies.
Republic TV has strongly refuted the allegations and accused Mumbai Police of a vendetta because the channel had questioned the police investigation into actor Sushant Singh Rajput's death.
