Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala Defends Police Action at Reporter TV

Kochi: Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala has defended the police action at the news desk of Reporter TV, saying the operation was legal and did not obstruct media freedom.

Chennithala said the police had committed no wrongdoing and that he would not interfere in the investigation. When asked about the seizure of journalists' phones and the disruption of the channel's news broadcast, the Home Minister denied that any such incident had occurred.

He said the police action was part of an investigation into the proposed visit of the Argentina football team to Keralam. Chennithala accused critics of misleading the public by portraying the incident as a situation similar to the Emergency.

"As part of an investigation, documents at the institution may have to be examined. What is wrong with that?" he asked.

The police operation at the channel's office took place in the early hours of Wednesday. A police team entered the news desk carrying batons and allegedly disrupted news broadcasting for several hours. Female journalists were also allegedly threatened.

According to the channel, police seized the phones of everyone at the news desk. Despite being told that the phones were required for news broadcasting, the officers allegedly refused to return them, resulting in disruption to the channel's transmission.

Journalists and employees working at the news and digital desks were allegedly prevented from continuing their work and asked to leave. Police also examined journalists' diaries, desk drawers and files.

ACP Bijoy Chandran allegedly sat in the editor's chair and directed the search. The police reportedly threatened the staff while demanding that rooms belonging to the administration and human resources departments be opened for inspection.

A copy of the FIR was uploaded online only four hours after the channel sought it.

Police also allegedly entered the home of an employee of the administration department and took her mother's phone from her.

The police action has triggered protests across the state, with various organisations and sections of the media community condemning the operation.