Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami had paid 6,000 US dollars to former Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) CEO Partho Dasgupta to rig the channel’s TRPs since its launch in 2017, Mumbai police have claimed.??
Mumbai police in their remand application seeking further custody of the arrested former BARC CEO said in 2017, Goswami had paid him 6,000 US dollars at a star hotel in Lower Parel and sponsored a trip for Dasgupta and his family to Switzerland and Denmark.
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BARC CEO Dasgupta was arrested on December 24 in connection with the TRP manipulation case.
On Monday, a metropolitan court extended Dasgupta’s police custody till December 30.
Assistant police inspector Sachin Waze, the investigating officer into the TRP scam case, said the police have gathered evidence of a number of payments.
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“In 2017, Goswami paid him 6,000 US dollars at a star hotel in Lower Parel and sponsored a trip for Dasgupta and his family to Switzerland and Denmark; in 2018, he paid Rs 20 lakh in cash; and in 2019 he paid Rs 10 lakh at a hotel near the airport,” TOI quoted Waze as saying.
The crime branch of the Mumbai police is probing the TRP manipulation scam.
Waze said that when Goswami launched Republic TV in 2017, he sought Dasgupta’s help in manipulating ratings and took the channel to the No. 1 slot.
The police officer said that those who helped Dasgupta in his office were handsomely rewarded with cash, gifts and promotions.
“Initially, they adopted a simple modus operandi wherein during BARC sampling, the raw data gathered was edited and fed to obtain a favourable output,’’ Waze said.
Police have seized Dasgupta’s laptop, cell phones, a watch, and silver jewellery.