Republic television distribution head has been arrested by police in the alleged manipulation and rigging of television ratings by Mumbai Police.
The distribution head Ghanshyam Singh of Republic TV, which is run by arrested anchor Arnab Goswami, is the twelfth accused being taken into custody by Mumbai Police in connection with the television rating point (TRP) scam.
Republic TV anchor and co-owner Arnab Goswami was arrested last week by Maharastra Police in a separate case of abetment to suicide that was filed in 2018.
Several households when questioned by police had admitted that they were paid to keep Republic TV on even when they were not watching. Other two local channels, Fakt Marathi and Box Cinema have also been named in this TRP scam.
The Mumbai police had said that the TRP scam had emerged during the investigation in the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput when a larger analysis of news trends and ‘false narrative’ was being spread.
Republic TV has strongly denied all he allegations and has accused the Mumbai Police for misuse of power because the channel had questioned the police investigation into the actor’s death.
According to Mumbai Police, they had received a complaint from Hansa Research, the company appointed by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), that installs ‘people meters’ to track viewership. The company had said that some of its former employees had shared details of the households that were tracked and helped rig the ratings.