‘Mangalam’ CEO and others remanded in judicial custody

Thiruvananthapuram: The Chief Executive Officer and four media persons of a private TV channel involved in telecast of a purported sleaze audio clip which led to the resignation of Kerala minister A K Saseendran, were remanded to judicial custody by a court here Wednesday night.

They were produced before the Judge at his residence, who remanded them in judicial custody for 14 days.

CEO of Mangalam TV channel R Ajit Kumar, Chief of Investigation team K Jayachandran, coordinating editor M B Santhosh, and news editors Firoz Sali Muhammed and S V Pradeep are those remanded to custody.

They were arrested late last night after nearly 13 hours of questioning.

According to sources, police would move a petition in the court Thursday, seeking custody of Ajitkumar and Jayachandran.

Meanwhile, a woman journalist, with whom Saseendran is alleged to have conversed in the audio clip, filed a sexual harassment complaint against him before the Chief Judicial Magistrate.

She also alleged that he misbehaved with her.

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

The channel on March 26 had aired the sleaze audio clip which led to the resignation of Saseendran, NCP representative in the LDF cabinet within hours.

The channel had later tendered an apology admitting that they had conducted a "sting operation" involving one of their women journalists and not a housewife, as claimed earlier.

Meanwhile, Kerala Union of Working Journalist condemned the "police activism" of framing charges against "innocent journalists".

KUWJ General Secretary C Narayanan said police summoned even a woman news reader, who had no role in the whole episode.

KUWJ also said the union had no differences of opinion in taking action against those who were really behind the incident.