TRP scam: 3 more people arrested by Mumbai police

Three more people were arrested by Mumbai Police for their alleged involvement in TRP scam on Tuesday (October 20). One of the arrested individual was identified as Ramji Verma, who was Relationship Manager at Hansa Agency in 2013-14. It is learnt that Verma has given contact related to a leading private English news channel to Umesh Mishara.

Another former employee of Hansa, Dinesh Vishwakarma, was arrested at Mumbai Airport after he returned from Mumbai. The police also recorded the statement of Ebixcash Managing Director Milan Ganatra in connection with this case.

Mumbai Police has arrested eight people so far in connection with this case. 

The TRP scam came to light when the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) an organization that measures TRP, filed a complaint in this regard through Hansa Research Group Pvt Ltd.

In a press conference, Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh had said that ratings by BARC, an organisation under the Ministry of Information and Broadcast (I&B), had been manipulated. The police said that sample houses, where barometers had been installed to monitor ratings, were paid to watch certain TV channels. 

Notably, TRP is a tool to judge which TV programmes are viewed the most and also indicates the viewers' choice and popularity of a particular channel.