New Delhi: Pratyusha Dasgupta, the daughter of Partho Dasgupta, former CEO of ratings agency BARC who was arrested in the alleged fake Television Ratings Point (TRP) case, made an appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi Saturday to save her father’s life, alleging that he has been a victim of negligence in judicial custody.
This came a day after purported WhatsApp chats between Partho and journalist Arnab Goswami went viral on social media. The chats revealed that the duo allegedly colluded to give Goswami’s news channel, Republic TV, an advantage over rivals.
The WhatsApp conversations are part of Mumbai Police’s investigation into alleged manipulation of TRPs by news channels, including Republic TV and a few others.
The leaked conversations show discussions between the two about lobbying with politicians and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) against certain reform proposals regarding TV ratings.
Partho was arrested on 24 December last year and has been in judicial custody since then.
In a letter addressed to PM Modi, Pratyusha said her mother received a call from Mumbai’s JJ Hospital around 3 am Saturday. The family was told that Partho has been brought to the hospital in an unconscious state at 1 pm Friday.
Pratyusha said authorities from the Taloja Jail, where Partho is being kept, had not informed the family for nearly 14 hours after he was taken to the hospital. She wrote that the hospital authorities also waited for Partho to regain consciousness and provide emergency contact details.
“He was moved to the ICU at 5 am — 16 hours after bringing him to the hospital — and we have no access to him,” Pratyusha wrote.
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‘Severely ill-treated’
Pratyusha wrote that her father has been suffering from a number of ailments, including diabetes, hypertension, and ankylosing spondylitis, all of which the family had communicated to the jail authorities.
“The state that he is in clearly indicates that he was being severely ill-treated. He was in a completely traumatised state and it was apparent that he had been physically and mentally tortured,” Pratyusha wrote, adding that she was concerned about his life.
She urged the PM to intervene so that the family can get him treated at a “reputed hospital” at their own cost.
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He deserves to be in a “completely traumatized state” – he is a cheat, a fixer and a criminal. He deserves punishment…. but like all entitled high-and-mighty in India he probably feels the law is meant for others, not him.