Cops search Asianet News office in Kozhikode after SFI protest over alleged fake news

A case was registered against the channel authorities on Saturday at Kozhikode on the basis of a petition filed by an LDF MLA

A police team carried out a search at the office of Malayalam news channel Asianet News at Kozhikode in Kerala on Sunday, two days after Kerala ruling CPI(M)'s students' outfit Students' Federation of India (SFI) staged a protest march to the office of the channel in Kochi alleging that the channel aired fabricated news regarding children being victimised by drug rackets.

A case was registered against the channel authorities on Saturday at Kozhikode on the basis of a petition filed by ruling Left Democratic Front MLA P V Anvar accusing the channel of fabricating the video of a minor girl as part of a news series on narcotic abuse among children last year. Anvar alleged that the daughter of a staff member of the channel was used for creating the fake video and the voice of another victim of drug abuse was used in it. Sections of the POCSO Act and IPC were invoked.

Asianet authorities denied the allegation and claimed that the police case was a vindictive move by the MLA as the channel widely published reports against the MLA. Asianet claimed that the MLA had already warned that the channel would soon land in trouble.

The fresh row erupted after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told the Assembly, in a written response, recently that the police was probing a complaint of a fake news report by the channel. Subsequently, SFI staged a protest march to the Asianet News office in Kochi with student activists barging into the office and shouting slogans. SFI's action invited strong criticism from various quarters and the police registered a case against SFI activists.

On Sunday, a police team from Kozhikode carried out searches at the Kozhikode office of the channel where the video was allegedly fabricated.

The Congress and the BJP termed the police action as a 'fascist' action of the Pinarayi Vijayan government.

Opposition leader V D Satheesan of the Congress said that the Vijayan government was turning out to be fascist and undemocratic. The government was unhappy over the reports of drug abuse and hence vindictive actions were being taken against the channel, he said.

BJP state president K Surendran said that the communist government was trying to suppress those exposing the lapses of the government. It was an extreme form of fascism, he said.