Mumbai Police set to quiz Arnab Goswami in Republic TV TRP fraud case
In a press conference held on Thursday, Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh told reporters that the city police are probing a scam involving manipulation of TRPs. He identified three channels, namely Fakt Marathi, Box Cinema, and Republic-TV which are reportedly involved in distorting the apparatus used by BARC to rate television channels.
The TRP is calculated on the basis of TV channel viewership in a confidential set of households. As per the commissioner, the accused would bribe these households and ask them to run some channels continuously even if they were not home. The BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council) releases weekly rating points for TV channels in India and its own officials are also being questioned in connection with the case.
Here's what Commissioner Param Bir Singh said:
- There are 2,000 barometers installed in Mumbai to monitor TRPs. BARC has given confidential contracts to an agency called 'Hansa' for monitoring these barometers. Accused would ask some households to keep some channels on even if they were not at home.
- Two people were arrested, produced in court and the Mumbai Police have got their custody. One accused has been arrested with Rs 20 lakhs while Rs 8.5 lakhs has been found in a bank locker, Commissioner Param Bir Singh said.
- He added that owners of Marathi channels Fakt Marathi and Box Cinema have been arrested. Arrests were made under sections 409 and 420 of IPC.
- BARC has submitted that Republic TV is a suspect in TRP manipulation, the Mumbai Police Commissioner said. Police received the data of these households from BARC, the rating agency. We suspect that if this was happening in Mumbai then it could be happening in other parts of the country as well, he added.
- ACP Shashank of Crime Branch's CIU is leading the investigation and DCP and JCP are supervising the investigation.
- The complaint was filed by Hansa Research against some of their ex-employees who could have misused data on households where the TRP monitoring systems are installed. Some current employees could also be involved and some insiders could be involved. It is cheating (breach of trust) complaint turned into an FIR, the police commissioner told reporters.
- Promoters and directors of Republic TV will be summoned and questioned, Commissioner Param Bir Singh said. Summons will be sent to Republic officials, including Editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami on Thursday and they will be asked to appear before the investigating team, the commissioner said.
- Some TV channels ran fake propaganda to gain ratings but now we have come to learn that there was a manipulation being done in BARC systems, Param Bir Singh claimed.
- The culprits, whoever they may be, will be investigated and we will take this fraud case to its logical conclusion, he added.
- The Mumbai Police have shared the probe findings with the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) ministry.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
