Financial transactions that have taken place over the past five years are under review, an official said.
Bombay:
Mumbai Police have started examining the financial transactions of five chains, which were allegedly involved in a televised fake rating points (TRP) scam, an official said on Thursday.
Financial transactions that have taken place over the past five years are under review, he said.
“The Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Mumbai Criminal Branch has started the process of reviewing the financial transactions of these five channels which have occurred in the past five years,” the official said.
It will also look at their sources of income, he said.
“During the investigation so far, it was observed that there had been a sudden spike in the number of transactions,” he said, without giving further details.
Police will also slap tampering-related sections in the case, including IPC sections 408, 463, 465 and 468, he said.
Meanwhile, police on Thursday recorded the statement of the chief financial officer of Republic TV station S Sundaram and he will be called again on Friday, the official said.
Channel editor Niranjan Narayanswamy will also be questioned again, he said.
The investigative team recorded the statement of Republic TV chief distribution officer Ghanshyam Singh in the case, he said.
The alleged TRP scam came to light when the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) rating agency filed a complaint with the police through Hansa Research Group, alleging that some channels were manipulating TRP numbers to lure advertisers.
It has been alleged that some families in which meters to collect audience data were installed were bribed to connect to a particular channel.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
