Sunday, Jun 30, 2002
Sunday, Jun 30, 2002 |
| Southern States | ||
|
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Southern States
-
Kerala-Thiruvananthapuram
By Our Staff Reporter
The channel had telecast the controversial news report on Tuesday last claiming that it was in possession of a report filed by the Director General of Police (Intelligence), to the private secretary of the Chief Minister, A. K.Antony, stating that Prof. Thomas was involved in the scam. With Mr. Antony denying the existence of such a police report in the Legislative Assembly, the Crime Branch had registered a case of forgery, conspiracy and defamation against the Surya TV on charges that the channel had shown a "fabricated report as a genuine one''. In the petition, the general manager of Surya TV, C. Praveen, has sought the immediate intervention of Mr. Narayanan and Ms. Sonia Gandhi to prevent "harassment of mediapersons and safeguard the freedom of democracy''. Mr. Praveen said that an eight-member strong police team led by two Dy.SPs had barged into the Surya TV office and illegally conducted a raid on Thursday. The Crime Branch team ransacked the studio and news department rooms and took away all documents relating to the news report, including the confidential notes filed by the State Police Intelligence on the alleged involvement of Prof. Thomas in the hawala scam. The original master cassette of the news item telecast by the channel was also taken away by the police, he alleged. The Crime Branch team threatened the employees of Surya TV office with dire consequences and created a terrifying atmosphere at the office. Mr. Praveen alleged that the police action was in violation of the procedures prescribed in the Cr.P.C. The search and seizure were not conducted in the presence of two respectable inhabitants of the locality as required by the law. No list or inventory of the seized material was prepared. The channel was also not given a list of the materials seized from its office as per provisions of the Cr.P.C, the petitioner said. In the petition, Mr. Praveen described the police action as "sheer abuse'' of police powers. The Surya TV office was ransacked with the intention to help the Fisheries Minister. The raid came immediately after Prof. Thomas had indicated that he would be initiating legal action against the channel. The police had acted not in accordance with the law but to protect the interests of the Minister, he alleged. Though the Crime Branch had a search warrant to enter into Surya TV office, the warrant was not executed. This was for allowing the officers to take possession of key documents without having to account for it, Mr. Praveen alleged.
Police deny phone tapping
The police have described as "false and baseless'' the allegation that telephones of mediapersons and that of Surya TV were being tapped as part of the ongoing Crime Branch investigation into the alleged forgery of the purported intelligence document detailing the involvement of Prof. Thomas in the scam. When contacted, a top official said that though there were procedures for tapping telephones in cases of certain nature, the Crime Branch was not doing it in the Surya TV case. "This is a highly sensitive case. We are looking for hardcore evidence sustainable in a court of law. Tapping telephones is not part of our investigation method. This case does not warrant such an extra-ordinary step,'' he said. The Crime Branch is assessing the case from different angles. The unit has a definite idea of the case and how the conspiracy was hatched, an official claimed. Now the unit was gathering hardcore evidence to bolster its case in court. The Crime Branch has sought the expertise of various experts to understand the working of a TV newsroom and editing procedures. The methods used for allegedly forging the intelligence report was also being studied, an official said. The Crime Branch had earlier denied the allegation that it had raided the Surya TV office and taken possession of the documents.
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail
News:
Front Page |
National |
Southern States |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | Business Line | The Sportstar | Frontline | Home |
Copyright © 2002, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|