Kochi, A police team carried out a search at the Kochi headquarters of Malayalam news channel Reporter TV early Wednesday, with the channel alleging that the action disrupted its news operations.
The channel alleged that officers remained at the office for over half an hour without explaining the reason for the search or other details and that phones personally used by journalists who had reported for duty were taken into custody. The police personnel took away mobile phones of journalists and other employees, the channel claimed. Opposition Leader Pinarayi Vijayan condemned the police action and alleged that the entry into the news desk and seizure of journalists’ phones amounted to an attack on media freedom. He also alleged that the police filmed journalists. The police version of the allegations made by the channel and Vijayan was not available.
In a statement, Vijayan said police personnel “burst into” the news desk in the early hours and created a tense atmosphere for about one-and-a-half hours.
The Special Investigation Team is reportedly conducting searches at five locations, including the Kochi residences of the Augustine brothers, the proprietors of Reporter Broadcasting Company, its office and their family home in Wayanad.
The action is understood to be linked to the investigation into the controversy surrounding the failed Messi-Argentina football event in Keralam during the previous Left rule.
