New Delhi:
The two Zee editors, held in connection with the alleged Rs. 100 crore extortion bid from Congress MP Naveen Jindal's company, will remain in judicial custody till December 22. Delhi police is seeking permission to conduct a lie detector test and collect voice samples from the two and Zee group chairman Subhash Chandra.
A Delhi court has issued notices to Mr Chandra and the two editors, seeking their response on the police's plea for conducting a lie detector test on them.
Zee News head Sudhir Chaudhary and Zee Business Editor Samir Ahluwalia, were sent to police custody for two days by a Delhi court on Saturday.
Mr Chandra, who was questioned by the Delhi Police for the second day on Sunday, said he will file a defamation case against Mr Jindal. His son Punit Goenka was also called in for questioning.
The Zee News Editors are presently lodged in Tihar jail. They have been booked under section 384 (extortion), 420 (cheating), 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and 511 (punishment for attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment) of the Indian Penal Code.
The Zee Group has condemned the arrests of their employees and demanded their immediate release. It also denied the allegations against the two journalists, alleging the police action was "illegal" and "designed for something else".
(With input from PTI)