Crime Branch investigators on Sunday paid a call on the office of Mangalam television in connection with their high-profile investigation into the questionable broadcast of an audio sex tape that “targeted” former Transport Minister A. K. Saseendran, caused his resignation and put the politician under a lengthy period of doubt in public eye.
Investigators interacted with journalists there in an attempt to understand the channel’s process of news collection, selection and publication. They wanted to know the hierarchical editorial bureaucracy of the media house and respective responsibilities of team leaders.
The agency’s First Information Report (FIR-52/CR/OCW1/TVPM) registered against the channel secretly last Thursday evening was made public on Saturday. It names Sajan Varghese, chairman, Mangalam TV as the prime accused.
The other suspects are all journalists. They are journalists R. Ajith Kumar (CEO and MD), M. B. Santhosh and Rishi. K. Manoj (both news coordinating editors), K. Jayachandran alias S. Narayanan (Investigation Team Leader), Firoz Sali Muhammed and S.V. Pradeep (both news editors and readers). The agency has also named an “unknown female” as a suspect.
They have been booked for transmitting sexually explicit material in electronic form under Section 67 (A) of the Information Technology Act. The offence carries a minimum punishment of 5 years and ₹10 lakh fine. The agency has also accused them of conspiracy which carries a minimum punishment of 2 years and fine.
The case
The police case is that the suspects, in order to successfully market the channel, hatched a criminal conspiracy to defame and vilify Mr. Saseendran in public.
The “sexually explicit obscene conversation” was transmitted by the channel between 11 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. on March 26. The same day at 5.46 p.m., the sordid conversation was posted on channel’s public FB account.
The agency has also served notice to the media house to produce all available material evidence in the case, including computer servers and the devices on which seamy conversation was captured. Officials said they would also procure search and seizure court warrants, if necessary.
Meanwhile, Mangalam journalists were scheduled to move the district court here for anticipatory bail on Monday. The CB was likely to oppose their bail plea.
