In what has come as a surprise to Lutyens’ Delhi and media houses in the country, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted raids at the Delhi and Dehradun homes of Dr. Prannoy Roy, the founder and executive co-chairperson of NDTV.
A CBI spokesperson confirmed to The News Minute that searches are being carried out at his home in New Delhi and other places in Dehradun. Further details are awaited.
Sources say that the raids could be in relation to 'losses caused to a bank'. An FIR has been filed and according to it, NDTV defaulted on a loan amount of Rs. 42 crore taken from ICICI Bank through a subsidiary RRPR Holdings Pvt Ltd, say sources.
CBI confirms raids going on at Co-Founder and Executive Co-Chairperson of NDTV, Prannoy Roy's residence in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/rgioj3624m
— ANI (@ANI_news) June 5, 2017
Searches are being conducted today at four places including Delhi and Dehradun: CBI
— ANI (@ANI_news) June 5, 2017
Former NDTV journalist Ajai Shukla was the first to break the news on the raids.
Cowed Indian media! Prannoy Roy being raided and intimidated by govt and not one other media house is carrying story. Their turn will come!!
— Ajai Shukla (@ajaishukla) June 5, 2017
Pioneers of Indian television, Prannoy, his wife Radhika Roy, and other senior members of the NDTV management have been facing accusations of money laundering through one of the subsidiaries of NDTV.
Last year, BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy had sent a letter to PM Modi seeking a CBI and ED probe into charges of money laundering. Swamy had demanded that the CBI and ED question NDTV Network PLC’s (NNPLC) shareholders.
Caravan reported in December 2015 that a “series of financial transactions that the Roys have carried out from the mid-2000s onwards have been under close investigation by government agencies. If the agencies’ allegations are proven true, they could severely undermine NDTV’s hard-won reputation, and the trust Prannoy has been so keen to earn and retain.”
In December 2016, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had initiated proceedings against NDTV and its promoters for not having made a public announcement in 2009 of a ‘change of control’ in the television company. Earlier in June 2015, SEBI had imposed a Rs. 2 crore fine on NDTV for “non-disclosure of material information to the stock exchanges.”
Last week, NDTV had announced that it will shut down its business channel NDTV Profit and turn into a full-time infotainment and entertainment channel, to be rebranded as NDTV Prime.