Another person arrested in TRP scam

The alleged fake TRP scam came to light when ratings agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) filed a complaint with the police through Hansa Research Group, alleging that certain channels were rigging TRP numbers to lure advertisers. It was alleged that some families at whose houses meters for collecting data of viewership were installed were being bribed to tune into a particular channel..

Mumbai Police has made a ninth arrest in the Television Rating Points (TRP) rigging case, an official said on Friday. Harish Kamlakar Patil (45), a resident of suburban Chandivali, was arrested by the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the crime branch which is probing the case.

Patil was apprehended on Thursday evening after his name cropped up during the interrogation of Ramji Sharma and Dinesh Vishwakarma, former employees of Hansa research agency, he said. It was suspected that Patil took money from some TV channels to fraudulently ramp up TRP, he said.

Investigation revealed that there were some financial transactions between Patil and absconding accused Abhishek Kothawale who runs a company named Max Media. Patil allegedly helped Kothawale to flee from the city after the probe began, he said.

Patil owns some shell companies, the official said, adding that the bank account of one of these companies was suspected to have been used to receive money from some news channels. The money was distributed by Kothawale to some of the arrested accused who used it to bribe the households, from where viewership data was being collected, to watch a particular channel, the official said.

Chief finance officer of Republic TV S Sundaram and distribution head Ghanshyam Singh have been questioned by the CIU this week, he said. The alleged fake TRP scam came to light when ratings agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) filed a complaint with the police through Hansa Research Group, alleging that certain channels were rigging TRP numbers to lure advertisers.

It was alleged that some families at whose houses meters for collecting data of viewership were installed were being bribed to tune into a particular channel.