Messi event row: Police raid Reporter TV office, promoters’ homes; CM defends action

KOCHI: (Sep 16) A SIT of the Kerala Police on Wednesday searched the Kochi headquarters of a private Malayalam news channel — Reporter TV — and premises linked to its promoters as part of a probe into alleged financial irregularities surrounding the failed Lionel Messi-Argentina football event in the state, triggering a political row over the action.

The searches, conducted at five locations in Kochi and Wayanad, including the office of Reporter Broadcasting Company (RBC), the residences of its promoters, the Augustine brothers, and their ancestral home in Wayanad, were carried out on the basis of court-issued warrants, police said.

The search at the RBC office, which houses the Reporter TV newsroom, led to allegations by the channel that police entered the news desk and took away mobile phones used by journalists and other employees, disrupting its news operations.