Jindal extortion case: Police to question Zee chief Subhash Chandra, MD Puneet Goenka

New Delhi: Zee Group Chairman Subhash Chandra and managing director Puneet Goenka will be questioned by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police on Saturday in connection to the alleged 100 crore rupee extortion case filed by the Jindals. Delhi Police also plans to confront them with the have also asked for a one-day remand of the two Zee editors Sudhir Chowdhury and Sameer Ahluwalia to confront them with owners of the channel.

Earlier, Zee owners had received interim relief from the court when it told the police not to arrest Chandra and Goenka till December 14. Naveen Jindal's company had filed an FIR against Zee in the first week of October. The editors were arrested once the sting tapes were found to be genuine.

The two editors are accused of demanding Rs 100 crore from Jindal Steel and Power Ltd (JSPL) in the form of advertisements to the channel. JSPL is among the companies named in the CAG report as one of the beneficiaries of the controversial coal block allocations.

Earlier, Zee owners had received interim relief from the court when it told the police not to arrest Chandra and Goenka till December 14.

Both the journalists have been booked under section 384 (extortion), 420 (cheating), 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment) of the IPC.

Jindal Power and Steel Ltd (JPSL) Chairman Naveen Jindal had earlier claimed that the Zee executives had demanded Rs 20 crore for four years and these meetings were secretly filmed. The journalists later raised the demand to Rs 100 crore for not broadcasting stories against the company in relation to allocation of coal blocks, he claimed.

In a retaliatory move, Zee News had last month sent a Rs 150 crore defamation notice to the Congress MP, who too had filed a Rs 200 crore case against the media conglomerate claiming the TV channel had tried to extort money from his company.

With Additional Inputs from PTI

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