Thiruvananthapuram: The police team investigating the telecast of former minister A.K. Saseendran's lewd telephone call will interrogate the television channel’s head and senior editors and ask them to produce the electronic equipment used to honey-trap the aged political leader.
The police are looking for the mobile phone and SIM card from which the controversial call was made to the minister, the equipment used to edit the clip and the footage of the news report that was aired on last Sunday. The special investigation team assessed the progress of the probe under crime branch inspector general Dinendra Kashyap.
Kashyap and team have summoned nine journalists, including the chief executive officer of the television channel to grill them in connection with the case. All of them have been charged with non-bailable offenses. The accused have sought anticipatory bail before the district court, the police said.
The police are on the job of collecting digital evidence in the case to look for a conspiracy angle to it.
The team has also questioned two complainants in the case, Mujeeb Rahman and Sreeja Tulasi.
Meanwhile, the government has notified the terms and references of the judicial commission probing the episode. Retired district judge P.S. Antony has been asked to look into the developments that led to Saseendran's resignation as transport minister.
The judicial probe will center on five areas. Whether the phone call was genuine and if so, the circumstances that led to it. Whether there was malicious intent behind the call and who all acted behind it. Who played key roles in editing the phone clip and telecasting it.
The commission has also been asked to recommend the legal course in case conspiracy is proven. The commission can investigate any new revelations it stumbles upon. The probe has to be completed within three months.