MUMBAI: Of late Zee 24 Gantalu, the Telugu news channel of ZMCL has been a plethora of cases being filed against it.  The latest is that it has decided to finally take a stand and say ‘enough is enough’. The channel has filed a writ petition in the Hyderabad High Court yesterday to seek relief from the FIR lodged against it by DGP V Dinesh Reddy.

A case of ‘spreading communal tension’ has been lodged in the police against it following which two employees (journalists) had been arrested and remanded in custody for two days. They are currently on bail and several other staff members have also taken anticipatory bail including the chief editor K Siva Prasad and the input editor.

The news report that is creating trouble is the one about the DGP (who is to retire soon) going to various babas (godmen) including a Hindu and a Muslim and touching their feet. He claims that the video has been morphed. The other case is where the Muslim baba has accused the channel of calling him a ‘black magician’.

“The words we used were ‘mantra gaadu’ which does not mean black magician but someone who is performing mantras,” says Zee 24 Gantalu editor K Siva Prasad.
The court’s order will come out tomorrow.

Last month another notice was sent to the channel regarding a video telecast on TRS chief K Chandrashekhar Rao on the repatriation of Seemandhara region’s employees.