TRP scam: Arnab Goswami personally met me and gave $12000 cash for manipulating ratings, says Partho Dasgupta

The problem for Arnab Goswami, editor of Republic TV, in the TRP scam case seems to be growing. Partha Dasgupta, former chief executive of Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India, has made a shocking claim in a handwritten statement to the Mumbai Police.

He said that Arnab Goswami had given him $12,000 for two separate holidays. According to the supplementary chargesheet, Dasgupta also said that Arnab Goswami had given him a total of Rs 40 lakh over three years for manipulating ratings in favour of the news channel.

Mumbai Police had on January 11 filed a 3,600-page supplementary chargesheet. It includes a forensic audit report from the BARC, purported WhatsApp chats between Dasgupta and Goswami, and statements from 59 people, including former council staff and cable operators. 

A supplementary chargesheet has been filed against Dasgupta, former BARC COO Romil Ramgarhia and Vikas Khanchandani, chief executive officer of Republic Media Network. The first chargesheet was filed against 12 persons in November 2020. According to the second chargesheet, Dasgupta's statement was recorded on December 27, 2020 at the office of the Crime Intelligence Unit in front of two witnesses at 5.30 pm.

The fake Television Rating Points (TRP) scam came to light last year when ratings agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) filed a complaint through Hansa Research Group, alleging that certain television channels were rigging TRP numbers.