Sleaze audio: ‘Mangalam’ CEO, staffers appear before SIT

Thiruvananthapuram: The CEO and eight employees of ‘Mangalam’, a private Malayalam TV channel, which had aired the alleged sleaze talk involving a minister leading to his resignation, appeared Tuesday before the special investigating team (SIT) probing the case and recorded their statements.

The channel said its CEO R Ajit Kumar and the eight staff members appeared before the team and gave their statements.

Monday, the High Court had rejected their interim prayer when their anticipatory bail petitions came up for hearing.

Police had last week registered an FIR against nine persons, including Ajit Kumar, on a complaint by the youth wing of the Nationalist Congress Party, for airing "obscene conversation".

The channel on its opening day on March 26 had aired an audio clip of the purported talk of transport Minister A K Saseendran, NCP representative in the LDF cabinet, with a woman, following which he had resigned the same day.

It had later tendered an apology for airing the contents and admitted it was a "sting operation" involving one of their woman journalists and not a housewife, as it had claimed earlier.

The state government had on March 30 ordered a probe by a special investigation team into the incident.

The government had earlier announced a judicial inquiry by a former district judge.

Meanwhile, the woman journalist has filed a complaint with the DGP, alleging sexual harassment.