TRP Scam: Former BARC Chief Partho Dasgupta hospitalised

Partho Dasgupta, former Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) CEO under arrest in the TRP rigging scam, was admitted to state-run JJ Hospital in Mumbai on Friday, a day after WhatsApp conversation between him and Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami went viral on social media, following low blood pressure and high blood sugar levels. Dasgupta, a diabetes patient, was not taking his medications. As per reports, Dasgupta is in ICU under oxygen support and his health condition is stable.

The crime branch of Mumbai police arrested Dasgupta on the 24th of December for allegedly manipulating TRP for bribes from Republic TV. He was shifted to judicial custody in Taloja central prison in Navi Mumbai on the 31st of December.

On Saturday, Partho's daughter Pratyusha Dasgupta wrote to PM Modi requesting him to intervene 'to save her father's life'. She tweeted the four-page letter to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Home Minister Amit Shah and the Prime Minister's Office with the title "A helpless daughter's anguished appeal". Pratyusha alleged that Partho was subjected to mental and physical torture within the jail. She also claimed of negligence on behalf of the police and hospital in providing him with necessary medical care. Pratyusha also alleged that the family was informed late, after 14 hours, of his hospitalisation. She further requested that Dasgupta be provided "proper medical treatment in a reputed hospital at our expense."

"The state that he is in clearly indicates that he was being severely ill-treated. He was in a completely traumatised state and it was apparent that he had been physically and mentally tortured. His deplorable conditions were a result of severe and continuous torment inside the jail," Pratyusha wrote.

Earlier, the Mumbai Court had denied his request for interim bail as per the charge sheet filed by the police which claims him to be the mastermind of the scam.