7 hrs ago
Kerala Police Raid Reporter TV Over Alleged Messi Match Fraud
Police in Kerala searched the offices and homes connected to a television company.
The search is linked to a planned football match featuring Lionel Messi and Argentina in Kochi.
The match did not take place as proposed.
Investigators say the company may have used false agreements and caused the government to lose money.
The company and its managing director deny wrongdoing.
Police say a court-approved warrant allowed the searches.
The television channel says the raid was meant to frighten or silence journalists.
Opposition leaders also criticized the police action as harmful to press freedom.
A Kerala Police special investigation team raided five premises, including the Reporter TV office.
The raids concern allegations that a proposed Argentina-Messi match in Kochi involved cheating and fabricated agreements.
The FIR names Anto Augustine and Reporter Broadcasting Company as accused of cheating and criminal conspiracy.
Police said the searches were authorized by a magistrate and denied disrupting broadcasts or seizing journalists’ phones.
Reporter TV and opposition leaders condemned the action as an assault on press freedom, while police defended it as a lawful investigation.
- Who
- The Kerala Police special investigation team, Reporter Broadcasting Company, Reporter TV managing director Anto Augustine, and opposition leaders are involved.
- What
- Police raided five premises as part of a cheating and criminal-conspiracy investigation linked to a proposed Argentina football match featuring Lionel Messi.
- Where
- The searches included the Reporter TV office and the homes of Anto Augustine and his brothers in Kochi and Wayanad.
- When
- The raids took place on Wednesday, days after the Kochi city police registered an FIR.
- Why
- Police allege that fabricated agreements and the proposed match deal led to cheating, illegal financial gains, and alleged financial misappropriation and tax evasion.
Police and Investigators
Reporter TV and Opposition Critics
Basis for the raids
Police and Investigators
Police said their preliminary investigation and reports from the Sports Department indicated a cognizable offence, leading to an FIR and a court-approved search warrant.
Reporter TV and Opposition Critics
Anto Augustine said the company had cooperated with the probe and argued that the government could have requested information without raiding the news organization.
Treatment of journalists
Police and Investigators
ADGP P Vijayan denied disrupting the news telecast or taking journalists’ mobile phones and said the entire search was videographed.
Reporter TV and Opposition Critics
Reporter TV journalists said the telecast was disrupted and Augustine alleged that journalists’ phones were taken into custody.
Press freedom
Police and Investigators
Police characterized the operation as part of a criminal investigation into alleged cheating and financial wrongdoing.
Reporter TV and Opposition Critics
Anto Augustine and opposition leader Pinarayi Vijayan described the action as an attempt to silence the media and condemned it as reminiscent of the Emergency.
Key facts
- Investigating agency
- Kerala Police special investigation team
- Premises searched
- Five premises, including the Reporter TV office and residences in Kochi and Wayanad
- First accused
- Anto Augustine, managing director and editor of Reporter TV
- Second accused
- Reporter Broadcasting Company
- FIR allegations
- Cheating by personation, cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property, and criminal conspiracy
- Proposed event
- An international football match involving Argentina and Lionel Messi in Kochi
- Police position
- The searches were based on a magistrate-approved warrant, and police denied disrupting the telecast or seizing journalists’ phones
Quotes
Pinarayi Vijayan
Opposition leader and former Kerala chief minister
“After the SIT was formed, we had ordered a preliminary probe. We had collected the reports from the sports department and collected necessary statements. As we prima facie believe there is a cognizable offence in the matter, an FIR was registered and a search warrant secured from the magistrate’s court.”
indianexpress.com
“If the government has anything to ask about the football issue, they could have sought the details from me. The media was not handled like this even during the Emergency. Why did they raid the news desk and take custody of the phones of journalists?”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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