Sleaze talk: Former Kerala minister A K Saseendran booked
Saseendran had to quit the Pinarayi Vijayan government two months ago after Mangalam News channel released an audio clip containing the alleged phone conversation between the journalist and the minister in which the latter was heard talking in a sexually-explicit tone.
Former Kerala minister A K Saseendran was booked by the chief judicial magistrate court in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday in connection with his alleged sleaze talk with a woman journalist of a TV channel.
Saseendran had to quit the Pinarayi Vijayan government two months ago after Mangalam News channel released an audio clip containing the alleged phone conversation between the journalist and the minister in which the latter was heard talking in a sexually-explicit tone.
Later the police arrested the channel CEO and six others on allegations of honey trap.
Soon the woman journalist had filed a complaint with the CJM court saying that the minister used to harass her continuously and made frequent phone calls and talked to her indecently on a number of occasions.
Initially the news channel claimed that Saseendran had sought sexual favours from a housewife when she approached him for some favour.
It also claimed that the audio clip was handed over to the channel by the woman as she wanted to expose the harassment he meted out to her.
But later channel CEO A Ajith Kumar clarified that “a woman scribe had voluntarily come forward” to carry out the sting operation against the minister.
He claimed that she was part of an eight-member investigation team constituted by the channel.
Kumar was forced to apologise after many writers, intellectuals and journalists criticised the way the channel carried out the sting operation.
Get Current Updates on India News, Lok Sabha Election 2024 LIVE along with Latest News and Top Headlines from India and around the world.