*The Mumbai police earlier this week presented alleged text conversationsbetween Republic TV Editor Arnab Goswami and former CEO of India’sBroadcast Audience Research Council Partho Dasgupta. *
The WhatsApp conversations, which were submitted in a court, show Goswamiwas aware of the key Indian government decisions, according to the Indianmedialink.
“Bigger than a normal strike,” Goswami told Dasgupta on February 23, 2019.Three days later, the Indian Air Force dropped a 1,000kg payloadlinksupposedlyon a Jaish-e-Muhammad training camp in Balakot. It was later revealed thatthe pilots were instructed not to harm any Pakistani citizen or soldier.
This chat is one among several in a 3,400-page supplementary chargesheetfiled by the Mumbai police. They are investigating allegations of a scam tomanipulate Indian television rating points. The conversations show “manyconspiracies and unprecedented access to power,” according to Indian publicinterest lawyer Prashant Bhushan.
They indicate that Goswami knew about several central government decisionsahead of time, including the Balakot airstrike and the revocation ofArticle 370.
For reasons not yet known, the firebrand news anchor is not on the list ofaccused in this case. Dasgupta is named as a prime accused and is the mostrecent of 15 people to be arrested. The police wrote in their remand noticethat he had been paid several hundred thousand rupees to manipulateRepublic TV’s TRPs.
BARC, the body responsible for publishing TRPs in India, filed a reportthrough a sister concern, claiming several news channels including RepublicTV were manipulating ratings. Eventually, several employees of BARC andRepublic TV were implicated. The police suspect several other channels,including Fakt Marathi, Box Cinema, News Nation, Mahamovies and Wow, ofinvolvement in the scam.
Dasgupta was aware of Goswami’s access to the power corridors, according tothe conversations filed by the police. In one instance, he asked Goswami toget him placed as an “advisor at the Prime Minister’s Office”.
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*‘We have won like crazy’*
After the killing of 40 Indian soldiers in the 2019 Pulwama attacklink,Goswami writes, “This attack we have won like crazy”. The conversationimplies the Indian government knew about an impending attack andcapitalized on it to garner votes in the upcoming general elections.
*Below is one such conversation between Dasgupta and Goswami:*
Dasgupta: Dawood?Goswami: No sir Pakistan. Something major will be done this time.Dasgupta: Good.Dasgupta: It’s good for big man in this season.Dasgupta: He will sweep polls then.Dasgupta: Strike? Or biggerGoswami: Bigger than a normal strike. And also on the same time somethingmajor on Kashmir. On Pakistan the government is confident of striking in away that people will be elated. Exact words used.
Besides the WhatsApp chats, the police have filed statements of 59witnesses, including 15 experts. Another supplementary chargesheet isexpected soon.
Source:link
