FULL STATEMENT: Arnab Goswami roars, "Armed with facts, we will fight this at every level"

With the lies of Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh exposed and his deliberate attempt to malign Republic Media Network while hiding the name of India Today out in the open, Republic Media Network Editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami has demanded the Mumbai CP's resignation and an apology. He highlighted that Param Bir Singh has no moral, ethical, and legal right to continue at the post because he has misused the position and favoured a particular channel. 

In a statement, Arnab also said that Republic Media Network is armed with facts as the FIR clearly shows that India Today has been named 6 times. He pointed out that a key witness has also named India Today. Arnab stressed that the press conference by Param Bir Singh was a desperate attempt target Republic for its Sushant Singh Rajput, Palghar and Hathras coverage. He asked if the Mumbai Commissioner will tell the country as to why is he refusing to take action on the FIR against India Today.

Here is Arnab Goswami's full statement: 

"The FIR in the TRP case has now come out. It mentions India Today. India Today is mentioned 6 times in the FIR. Detailed allegations have been made against India Today. In fact, the entire FIR is against India today. Now, a key witness has also spoken and made key allegations against India Today. Param Bir Singh should tell the country why he is refusing to take action on the FIR against India Today. The cat is out of the bag. It is now clear that Param Bir Singh did a desperate press conference to save India Today and target Republic for its SSR, Palghar and Hathras coverage. He has no moral, legal, ethical right to continue as Mumbai Police Commissioner anymore. Now that the facts are out, he must issue an apology and quit. Republic will take strong legal action against Param Bir Singh. Armed with facts, we will fight this at every level."

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Republic accesses FIR that names India Today

While the Mumbai Police accused the Republic Media Network of manipulation in TRP, on accessing the FIR filed by the Mumbai police, it was found that contrary to Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh's allegations naming Republic TV, the arrested Relationship manager of the Hansa Research Group Private Limited - Vishal Bhandari has named India Today and other channels on allegedly 'increasing ratings'.

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Two employees of Hansa- which is responsible for installing and maintaining the Bar-O-Meter of the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) - Dy General Manager Nitin Deokar and Relationship Manager Vishal have recorded their statements with the Mumbai police. Bhandari has revealed that India Today and other channels instigated him and offered money to panel homes, where Bar-O-Meter is installed. 

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Moreover, Deokar revealed that a person named Vinay asked Bhandari in November 2019 to approach 5 homes and ask them to watch India Today daily for two hours. As per Bhandari’s own confession to the BARC Vigilance team, Vinay paid him Rs.5000 as commission for distributing Rs.1000 among 5 panel homes. An audit inquiry by BARC confirmed that 5 households were indeed bribed to watch India Today daily for minimum two hours from November 2019 to May 2020.

In effect, the complaint over which Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh had earlier on Thursday held a press conference and proceeded to claim he would investigate a TRP Scam had actually named India Today, and not Republic TV.

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