TRP Manipulation Case: Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani Arrested In Mumbai

Vikas Khanchandani is the 13th person to be arrested in the case so far. The case was filed in October after Nitin Deokar, an official of Hansa Research, an agency that placed the ratings metres, filed a complaint alleging the process was being manipulated.

Image Courtesy: Twitter/ @VickMaverick

TRP Scam Case: The Mumbai Police on Sunday arrested Republic TV CEO Vikas Khanchandani in connection with its probe into the alleged Television Rating Points (TRP) manipulation scam. Khanchandani will be produced in the court today. He was previously questioned by the investigators two times. Also Read|19 Years Of Parliament Attack: PM Modi, Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh Pay Tribute To Martyrs, Recall The Valour Of Soldiers The arrest of the top executive comes less than a week after the Supreme Court turned down a plea from ARG Outlier Media Private Limited, which owns the Republic Media network, seeking protection for the group and its employees. "This petition is ambitious in nature. You want Maharashtra Police not to arrest any employee and transfer the cases to CBI. You better withdraw this," Justice DY Chandrachud had told the group, which had accused the Maharashtra Police of "hounding" the media house, its Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami and its employees. Earlier,  the channel's Head of Distribution, Ghanshyam Singh, was named in the 1,400-page charge sheet and two of the accused indicated that they will become approvers in the case. The court will take a call on the matter. The case was filed in October after Nitin Deokar, an official of Hansa Research, an agency that placed the ratings metres, filed a complaint alleging the process was being manipulated.

How did the TRP manipulation scam come to light?

During the crime branch’s probe, it was revealed that some cable operators had used dual LCN (Landing Channel Number) technology which allowed viewing of one channel on two-channel numbers at a time. The Republic TV officials also contacted cable operators to fix LCN and LCN promotion. Khanchandani knew everything as he was part of Republic’s internal WhatsApp group where discussions about LCN and Promotion LCN discussions took place, police sources said. The fake TRP scam came to light in October when ratings agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) filed a complaint through Hansa Research Group, alleging that certain television channels were rigging TRP numbers. Hansa is one of BARC’s vendors on engagement with panel homes or people’s meters. TRP, measured by recording viewership data at sample households, is crucial for attracting advertisers. As per the police, some of these households were being bribed to tune into Republic TV and a few other channels. Republic TV has denied the claims. Meanwhile, Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami moved the Bombay high court last week seeking a stay to further investigation by the Mumbai Police in the TRP manipulation scam. The petition, filed by Goswami and ARG Outlier Media which owns Republic TV, also alleged that one of the employees of the firm was tortured by the police in custody.