Chennai: The police on ThursÂday secured a man who abused chief minister J. Jayalalithaa and CongÂress MLA Vijayadharini in a talk show aired live on a private news channel late Wednesday. The man, identified to be TamildaÂsan of Thanjavur, was booked under IT Act and arrested in RamanaÂthapuÂram Thursday eveniÂng.
Tamildasan allegedly made disparaging remarks about the two during a call in programme on Sathyam TV that discussed the demolition of the compound wall of Mullivaikkal memoÂrial in Thajavur.
The incident has brought to light the hazards of live talk shows, where individuals and organizations are vulnerable to easy public abuse.
Meanwhile, Vijayadharini approached the city police commissioner office early this afternoon seeking stringent action against the caller, while Sathyam TV, for its part, has provided the phone number among other details about the caller in its complaint to Royapuram police.
Earlier, state Congress president B.S. GnanaÂdesiÂkan, in a statement also sought appropriate police action against the mischievous caller. Meanwhile, the video comprising disparaging remarks has gone viral with several netizens posting them in their Facebook pages.
Talking to DC, Sathyam TV editor S. Vijayarangam said the caller introduced himself as a Tamil activist and member of MDMK party from Thanjavur.
“He spoke well initially and hence his call was routed through audio and production control room for the live show. He started abusing while his views were being aired live,”
Vijayarangam said admitting that they were considering the introduction of a relatively expensive “deferred live technology” where the programme would be aired 10-20 seconds late, thereby giving time to stop such content from going on air.
