This is an archive article published on October 26, 2023

Journalist’s statement recorded in case filed by Kirit Somaiya

An officer said earlier YouTuber Anil Thatte said the allegations made against him were exaggerated and denied his role.

2 min readMumbaiUpdated: Oct 26, 2023 09:37 PM IST

Crime branch recorded the statement of journalist Kamlesh Sutar in connection with the FIR filed by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya. (FB/ Kamlesh Sutar)

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Journalist’s statement recorded in case filed by Kirit Somaiya

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THE crime branch on Thursday recorded the statement of journalist Kamlesh Sutar in connection with the FIR filed by BJP leader Kirit Somaiya over his purported video being broadcast by a news channel and YouTube channel. Earlier, YouTuber Anil Thatte’s statement was also recorded.

Sources said a DCP-rank officer was tasked with overseeing the process of recording Sutar’s statement at the east region cyber police station. An officer said the charges against him and the allegations made by Somaiya were read out before Sutar and he was asked to respond to the same.

The police had also issued summons to Sutar to appear on October 16 but later postponed it to another date after he expressed his inability to come on that date.

Also Read | Purported video on Kirit Somaiya: News channel editor summoned, statement of YouTuber recorded

An officer said earlier YouTuber Anil Thatte said the allegations made against him were exaggerated and denied his role. Last month, the Mumbai Police had registered an FIR against Sutar and a YouTuber for allegedly airing the video. Sutar is the Editor-in-Chief of the Lokshahi news channel which broadcasted the story regarding an explicit video purportedly of Somaiya.

Last month, the channel had received a notice from the Information & Broadcasting Ministry that the channel would be taken off air for 72 hours. However, after the channel challenged the notice in the Delhi High Court, it was back on air.

Also Read | HC seeks responses from Lokshahi channel, YouTuber and MLC Ambadas Danve to Kirit Somaiya’s defamation suits

During the recently concluded Monsoon session of the state legislature, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis had ordered an inquiry into the matter based on the issue being raised by opposition leaders regarding women being sexually harassed. The crime branch was asked to conduct the probe which is still underway.

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