The Delhi police crime branch appears to be tightening the noose around Zee Group chairman Subhash Chandra as the investigative agency on Monday moved a city court seeking permission to conduct a lie detector test on him.
Importantly, the crime branch’s application seeking a polygraph test is significant as it comes in the wake of the marathon grilling of Mr Chandra over the past two days. The crime branch has also sought the court’s permission for a polygraph test on the two arrested editors of the Zee network, Sudhir Chaudhary and Samir Ahluwalia. The crime branch also wants their voice samples to conduct a voice spectrum test which, sources added, will help the agency build a foolproof case against the accused. The two editors, who were produced in court on Monday, have been remanded to judicial custody till December 22.
Top crime branch officers said the key reason for the lie detector test were the “largescale discrepancies” that had emerged, particularly in the interrogation of Mr Chandra, who was confronted with the arrested editors both on Saturday and Sunday.
Crime branch sources also claimed the agency wants to “scientifically corroborate” what the Zee chairman told them in questioning. “We want to support the evidence that we have right now with scientific inputs,” a senior police official said.
The main reason, sources claimed, behind seeking the voice samples of Sudhir Chaudhry and Samir Ahluwalia was to compare them with some other call recordings that the crime branch had managed to access. Senior police officials were, however, extremely tightlipped on whether they had got their hands on the recording of a call between Mr Chandra and Samir Ahluwalia following the latter’s meeting with Jindal group representatives.
The matter is now listed in court for December 12, when defence lawyers will have to inform the court whether the accused persons are willing to undergo the lie detector test and also to give their voice samples.
The Zee group, meanwhile, moved an application on Monday seeking court monitoring of the investigation.