• Meanwhile, four people were bookedby the Kerala police based on a complaint against the channel. The booked people included Asianet Executive Editor Sindhu Sooryakumar, Resident Editor Shahjahan, reporter Naufal Bin Yousaf and the mother of the minor girl, local media said.

They have been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Section 465 of the IPC (forgery) and Section 120B (criminal conspiracy).The case was registered based on a complaint filed by LDF-backed MLA PV Anvar.In November 2022, the Asianet News aired a series called “Narcotics is a dirty business” in which the growing influence of drugs among Kerala’s student community was discussed. MLA Anvar claimed that Naufal Bin Yousaf forged an interview with a minor in order to be used in an episode of this series. The minor girl, reportedly the daughter of an Asianet employee, was asked to repeat a script handed over to her beforehand in front of the camera. The television channel meant to exhibit the interview as the first-hand experience of a child who was linked to the drug mafia in the state, it is alleged.

The “dialogues” said before the camera by the minor in November were found exactly the same as that told by another child to Asianet in August 2022. Talking to another reporter on the channel, a child had elaborated on how the drug mafia was becoming influential among schoolchildren. Naufal Bin Yousaf is reportedly accused of making a child by heart these lines for his series two months later. The comparison of the two episodes has gone viral on the internet.

Many social media users claimed that Asianet didn’t mention that the child’s interview was “representational” and meant to misguide the viewers by presenting it as a real interview.