A court on Tuesday sent the Vikas Khanchandani, Republic TV’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) chief executive of India’s fiercely nationalist and notorious Republic television network to jail for 14 days, his lawyer said, after his arrest by the police in a case relating to manipulation of television ratings.
Mumbai police alleged that Republic TV tried to artificially inflate its audience ratings by paying people to tune in to the channel and Vikas Khanchandani, the network’s CEO, has refused to cooperate with the investigation, according to court documents reported by Reuters.
Republic TV and its combative founder and main anchor Arnab Goswami are largely seen as sympathetic to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and staunch follower of thrice banned RSS a right wing Hindutva group in India
Post CEO arrest in Mumbai Arnab and BJP supporters come out in social media and demanded Mumbai police should not Arrest Arnab Goswami and pleaded BJP government Home Minister Amit Shah to Instruct Mumbai Police not to arrest him
It Should be noted In November, a court sent Goswami to jail after the police arrested him for allegedly abetting the suicide of an interior decorator who purportedly left a note saying Republic TV had not paid him for 83 Lakhs INR ( 0.12 million US$) for design work on its television studio.
Goswami was later released by Supreme Court of India in lightening speed , and his channel blamed local politicians, angered by its news coverage, for his arrest.
