The CEO and COO of Republic TV, facing the TRP scam investigation, appeared before the Mumbai Police for questioning on Sunday. After questioning both its senior officials, the channel said in a statement that it would not fall prey to any attempt to end editorial independence.
Nine hours of inquiry from CEO and five hours from COO
The Mumbai Police had asked the channel CEO Vikas Khanchandani and the two COOs to appear before it in the television rating points (TRP) manipulation racket case. On Sunday morning, Khanchandani and a COO Harsh Bhandari appeared before the police. According to police, Khanchandani was interrogated for nine hours and Bhandari for five hours. Also, the police have recorded the statement of Ghanshyam Singh, a senior member of the channel's distribution team.
However, later in a statement released by the channel, the three people claimed to be questioned for 20 hours. According to the police, a total of four people, including the owners of two Marathi channels, have been arrested in this case. Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh had earlier claimed that Republic TV and two Marathi channels have tried to manipulate the TRP. The alleged TRP racket was revealed after a complaint by Hansa Research Group Pvt Ltd, an agency appointed by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) to install TV channels to monitor audience meters in homes.