Crime Branch officers investigating the questionable broadcast of an audio sex tape targeting former Transport Minister A.K. Saseendran called on the office of the Mangalam TV for the second consecutive day on Monday. The team included cybercrime investigators, who reportedly inspected the channel’s servers and took a “true copy” of the controversial audio clipping aired as “exclusive and breaking news” by the media house between 11 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. on March 26.
The investigators interacted with senior journalists and studio technicians in a bid to understand the processes behind news gathering, editing, selection and publication. They were in the broadcaster’s office for several hours and took an inventory of the audio and video editing software tools used. Investigators also sought a copy of the channel’s broadcasting licence. They also wanted to know the service provider from whom the channel had bought its satellite spectrum.
The agency had last week named nine persons, including eight journalists and a management representative of the Mangalam TV, as suspects in the case. Its First Information Report listed one accused as “unknown female.” Investigators said the unidentified suspect could be the other person in the sordid telephone conversation that was apparently recorded on a mobile phone and subsequently edited and broadcast. The channel had masked the woman’s voice stating she was a complainant and citing her right to privacy. Efforts were on to identify the person. The Crime Branch also accused the channel of disseminating the “objectionable” broadcast throughout its Facebook page on March 26 evening.
It has booked the suspects “for” transmitting sexually explicit material in electronic form under Section 67 (A) of the Information Technology Act as part of a larger “conspiracy to make the channel relevant in the highly competitive market” on the very day of its launch.
The accused have moved the High Court for anticipatory bail and none were present at the office when the CB investigators called in.
