Two more arrested in TRP rigging case

Mumbai, October 20

The crime branch of Mumbai Police on Tuesday arrested two former employees of Hansa research agency in connection with the fake Television Rating Points (TRP) racket, an official said.

This takes the number of arrested persons in the case to eight.

Ramji Verma (41) and Dinesh Vishwakarma (37) were working with Hansa agency for a few years.

Verma was arrested from Worli area here, whereas Vishwakarma was apprehended this evening at the Mumbai airport, the official said.

The alleged fake TRP scam came to light when ratings agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) filed a complaint with the police through Hansa Research Group, alleging that certain channels were rigging TRP numbers to lure advertisers.

It was alleged that some families at whose houses meters for collecting data of viewership were installed were being bribed to tune into a particular channel. PTI