Jindal extortion case: Police seek lie detector test on Zee Group chief, editors

New Delhi: The two Zee editors facing charges of extortion from Jindal Steel and Power Limited (JSPL) were on Monday sent to judicial custody till December 22 after their two-day police custody ended on Monday. The Delhi Police also moved an application seeking permission for a lie detector test on the duo and Zee Group chairman Subhash Chandra.

The police, say sources, are also seeking to conduct a voice sample test on the accused.

Subhash Chandra had been questioned in connection with the case for seven hours on Sunday. After the interrogation, Chandra said that he would file a defamation case against Congress MP Naveen Jindal, the owner of JSPL. Speaking to the media, he said that he had no knowledge of the deal to extort money from Jindal Steel till October 7.

The two Zee editors Sudhir Chaudhary and Samir Ahluwalia have been sent to judicial custody till December 22.

Investigators, however, told the court earlier that they were treating Chandra as an accused as he knew about the dealings between his employees and Jindal's company. Zee Group, however, denied the allegations of extortion and demanded the immediate release of the two senior journalists, alleging that the police action was "illegal" and "designed for something else".

Jindal had accused the Zee Network of trying to extort Rs 100 crore from JSPL to drop negative stories against the company in connection with the coal blocks allocations. Jindal later released tapes which showed the conversation between Ahluwalia, Chaudhary and JSPL representatives to prove his claim.

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