Zee Group Chairman Subhash Chandra yet to join Zeegate Probe

Zee TV Group promoter Subhash Chandra has not yet respond to Delhi Police’s notice on joining the probe into allegations of extortion in Zeegate Extortion Case.

They said Chandra did not show up at the police’s Crime Branch office by Wednesday evening.

A notice was sent to Subhash Chandra on Wednesday to join police investigation into allegations of extortion made by Jindal Group against Zee Network’s two journalists, who were arrested on Tuesday, Deputy Commissioner of Police S.B.S. Tyagi told IANS.

“But Chandra did not join the investigation till late evening. We’ll try to contact him Thursday again if he does not join the investigation,” he said.

Zee News, however, vehemently denied all allegations of extortion levelled against its journalists and said police were being forced to act on the matter under pressure from Congress MP Naveen Jindal and his associates.

Sudhir Chaudhary, head of Zee News, and Samir Ahluwalia, head of Zee Business, were arrested here Tuesday on charges of allegedly attempting to extort Rs.100 crore from Jindal’s company in exchange for not filing news reports linking his firm to the coal blocks allocation.

Metropolitan Magistrate Gaumti Manocha on Wednesday sent the duo to two days’ police custody and dismissed their bail plea.

However a Delhi court has sought a reply from police on the bail plea of two Zee News journalists arrested on an extortion complaint filed against them by Congress MP Naveen Jindal’s company.

Appearing before a judge in south Delhi’s Saket district courts, Delhi Police sought three days’ custody of the two journalists to interrogate them, and said while reporting on the matter the Zee News misreported facts and “there was an element of deception involved”.