Aspiring woman scribe gets bail in sting case

A court in New Delhi grants bail to an aspiring journalist, a co-accused in a fake sting operation case involving a government school teacher into an alleged prostitution racket.

A court in New Delhi on Saturday granted bail to an aspiring journalist, a co-accused in a fake sting operation case involving a government school teacher into an alleged prostitution racket.

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Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Alok Aggarawal enlarged Rashmi Singh, 25, on bail on furnishing of a personal bond and a surety of Rs 20,000 each.

"The accused Rashmi Singh, being a small-time reporter, was persuaded by main accused Prakash Singh to participate in the sting operation .... She was promised a job in a news channel," the court said.

Crime branch of Delhi Police had submitted that the sting operation was a fake one and Uma Khurana, the school teacher, had no role in the alleged offence.

The court, earlier, had released Khurana saying "she was more a victim than the offender in the alleged sex racket case."

Earlier, Prakash, a reporter of Live India channel, that aired the sting operation, was arrested after it reportedly turned out that the girl who appeared in the video making allegations against Khurana was not a student but an aspiring journalist.

Prakash alsongside Rashmi has been booked under various sections of Indian Penal Code, including those relating to cheating and criminal conspiracy.

The TV sting had resulted in large-scale violence in Old Delhi and prompted the Delhi Government to first suspend Khurana and then terminate her services.