Police conduct checking at regional office of Asianet News

The action comes in the wake of registering a case related to the telecasting of a ‘fake’ interview presenting a teenage girl as victim

An eight-member police squad led by Assistant Commissioner P.V. Suresh (District Crime Branch) carried out a detailed inspection at the regional office of the Asianet news here on Sunday as part of the continuing investigation into the telecast of an alleged ‘fake’ interview of a teenaged girl from Northern Kerala presenting her as a victim of drug and sexual assault.

The search that continued for several hours creating interruption to the smooth functioning of the reporting team was carried out subsequent to a case registered against the news channel at Vellayil police station under various sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and Indian Penal Code. Channel’s Executive Editor Sindhu Suryakumar, Resident Editor Shajahan, and reporter Noufal Bin Yusaf were among those booked on the charges of making false documents and hatching criminal conspiracy.

The police squad accompanied by IT experts scanned almost all files and folders kept at the channel’s studio. Two senior Revenue Department officers were also present to oversee the legal procedures. Though the editing works at the news studio were interrupted drawing wide protest, the channel continued to air the live visuals of the checking till the end.

The district-level functionaries of the Kerala Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ) alleged that the police action was quite suspicious and it challenged the freedom of media in a fascist way. KUWJ District president M. Firos Khan and Secretary P.S. Ragesh said the police tried to create a scary atmosphere around the 24x7 news channel with vengeance and the reasons behind such a haste should be probed.

The journalists who were present at the spot during the search said the attempts to open all media files from computers other than the videos related to the alleged controversy were quite a suspicious move. They also alleged that the long hours of check hit the comfortable functioning of the newsroom.

Meanwhile, police sources said the checking was part of the routine procedures initiated to recover the suspected video footage related to the complaint filed by P.V. Anvar, MLA. They also claimed that there were no attempts to interrupt the live telecasting of the whole legal procedures by the channel as part of ensuring their freedom.