NEW DELHI: In yet another turn of events in the TRP scam case, Republic TV distribution head Ghanshyam Singh was arrested in the early hours of Tuesday morning. He had earlier been questioned by the crime branch in connection with the case.

Singh, who is also assistant VP of the Arnab Goswami-run channel,  is the 12th accused to have been taken into police custody in the TRP rigging scandal that came to light last month, when ratings agency Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) filed a complaint through Hansa Research Group, alleging that certain television channels were rigging TRP numbers.

The police probe had revealed that certain households were paid to keep several channels, including Republic TV, running even when they were not watching. 

Republic TV has denied any such allegations and accused Mumbai police of acting in the spirit of vendetta for the network’s critical reporting of the Sushant Singh Rajput suicide case. 

Read our coverage of the TRP scam case

Following this latest development, the channel issued a statement claiming Singh was booked under "frivolous sections in a fake TRP manipulation case" and termed his arrest “illegal.”

Singh’s arrest comes close on the heels of Republic TV’s editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami was arrested and remanded in 14-day judicial custody in a 2018 case of abetment to suicide.