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TEHELKA SCAM (2000-2007)
Tehelka is an Indian weekly magazine, founded by Tarun Tejpal. Started as a news portal, tehelka.com in 2000, it is best known for a sting operation that revealed rampant bribery in India's defence acquisitions.
Operation Fallen Heroes [2001]
In March 2000, Tehelka carried out a sting operation where former Indian cricketer Manoj Prabhakar participated with the magazine to expose the match-fixing ring in Indian cricket. In the 92-minute footage captured via a hidden camera that was screened to editors and reporters in the Imperial Hotel, Prabhakar was shown interacting with players and officials where details about accepting money from bookmakers were discussed.
In the resultant fallout, CBI implicated Mohammed Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja and Ajay Sharma as the cricketers involved in match-fixing. Sharma and Azharuddin were handed a lifetime ban from professional cricket by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, and Jadeja was banned for five years for their involvement with bookmakers.
Operation West End [2001]
In 2001, Tehelka created another sensation by releasing video footage of its first major sting operation, "Operation West End”. "Operation West End" was the brain child of special correspondent Mathew Samuel. The videos showed several defence officials, officers, and politicians from the then-ruling coalition Indian government discussing and accepting bribes. Tehelka had two reporters pose as arms dealers peddling "fourth generation thermal hand held cameras" on behalf of a British company (West End). The president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the mainstay of the government, Bangaru Laxman, was shown taking 100,000 Indian rupees (roughly $2,500 in U. S. dollars). He resigned the next day. He was followed a day later by the Minister of Defence George Fernandes who had appeared on the video-accepting twice as much.
Several additional Defence ministry officials and officers were suspended later. Samata Party member Jaya Jaitley was shown talking about accepting bribes of Rs 1 crore or more from arms dealer and former Naval officer Lt Cmdr Suresh Nanda, son of ex-Chief of Naval Staff Admiral S M Nanda. The government fought back by attacking Tehelka's methods. The Indian Media however lauded the investigation with some calling it as a ‘turning point’ in Indian journalism.
Bangaru Laxman, was caught on camera allegedly taking bribe from fake arms dealers for facilitating a fictitious defence deal case. He was sentenced to prison and bailed out later. George Fernandes was forced to resign but was reinstated later. In 2004, almost four years after the sting, the CBI registered cases against Jaitley, Bangaru Laxman and others in the Army and the Ministry of Defence. In 2012, Bangaru Laxman was sentenced to imprisonment after the court found the Tehelka sting valid and that Laxman had indeed taken a bribe.
Naroda Patiya/Gujarat riots [2007]
The magazine has come out with ground breaking investigative stories including involvement of right wing politicians and activists in the 2002 riots in Gujarat, which killed nearly 1000 Muslims. In a 2007 expose, Tehelka released hidden camera footage of several members of the BJP, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal, admitting their role in the riots. While the report was criticised by some as being politically motivated, some newspapers said the revelations simply reinforced what was common knowledge.
However, there were several inaccuracies in the statements that cast doubt on the sting operation. Bajrangi and Suresh Richard in the statements said that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi visited Naroda Patiya one day after the massacre to thank them. However, the official record shows that Narendra Modi did not visit Naroda Patiya. The Gujarat government blocked telecasts of cable news channels broadcasting the expose, which was criticised by the Editors Guild of India. According to Human Rights Watch, in three cases the abdomens of pregnant women had been cut open and the foetus removed and thrown into a fire. One such incident came to light five years after the event: in 2007 Suresh Dedawala (Richard) alias Langado was caught on camera in a Tehelka sting operation, talking to Bajrangi about slitting the belly of a pregnant Muslim woman, Kausar Banu, extricating her foetus, and then killing it with a sword. However, in their report the Special Investigation Team did not find evidence to support this claim, and medical reports did not confirm it as the doctors who conducted the post-mortem on Banu's body had found the foetus inside her womb.
TEHELKA SCAM (2000-2007)
Tehelka is an Indian weekly magazine, founded by Tarun Tejpal. Started as a news portal, tehelka.com in 2000, it is best known for a sting operation that revealed rampant bribery in India's defence acquisitions.
Operation Fallen Heroes [2001]
In March 2000, Tehelka carried out a sting operation where former Indian cricketer Manoj Prabhakar participated with the magazine to expose the match-fixing ring in Indian cricket. In the 92-minute footage captured via a hidden camera that was screened to editors and reporters in the Imperial Hotel, Prabhakar was shown interacting with players and officials where details about accepting money from bookmakers were discussed.
In the resultant fallout, CBI implicated Mohammed Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja and Ajay Sharma as the cricketers involved in match-fixing. Sharma and Azharuddin were handed a lifetime ban from professional cricket by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, and Jadeja was banned for five years for their involvement with bookmakers.
Operation West End [2001]
In 2001, Tehelka created another sensation by releasing video footage of its first major sting operation, "Operation West End”. "Operation West End" was the brain child of special correspondent Mathew Samuel. The videos showed several defence officials, officers, and politicians from the then-ruling coalition Indian government discussing and accepting bribes. Tehelka had two reporters pose as arms dealers peddling "fourth generation thermal hand held cameras" on behalf of a British company (West End). The president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the mainstay of the government, Bangaru Laxman, was shown taking 100,000 Indian rupees (roughly $2,500 in U. S. dollars). He resigned the next day. He was followed a day later by the Minister of Defence George Fernandes who had appeared on the video-accepting twice as much.
Several additional Defence ministry officials and officers were suspended later. Samata Party member Jaya Jaitley was shown talking about accepting bribes of Rs 1 crore or more from arms dealer and former Naval officer Lt Cmdr Suresh Nanda, son of ex-Chief of Naval Staff Admiral S M Nanda. The government fought back by attacking Tehelka's methods. The Indian Media however lauded the investigation with some calling it as a ‘turning point’ in Indian journalism.
Bangaru Laxman, was caught on camera allegedly taking bribe from fake arms dealers for facilitating a fictitious defence deal case. He was sentenced to prison and bailed out later. George Fernandes was forced to resign but was reinstated later. In 2004, almost four years after the sting, the CBI registered cases against Jaitley, Bangaru Laxman and others in the Army and the Ministry of Defence. In 2012, Bangaru Laxman was sentenced to imprisonment after the court found the Tehelka sting valid and that Laxman had indeed taken a bribe.
Naroda Patiya/Gujarat riots [2007]
The magazine has come out with ground breaking investigative stories including involvement of right wing politicians and activists in the 2002 riots in Gujarat, which killed nearly 1000 Muslims. In a 2007 expose, Tehelka released hidden camera footage of several members of the BJP, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal, admitting their role in the riots. While the report was criticised by some as being politically motivated, some newspapers said the revelations simply reinforced what was common knowledge.
However, there were several inaccuracies in the statements that cast doubt on the sting operation. Bajrangi and Suresh Richard in the statements said that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi visited Naroda Patiya one day after the massacre to thank them. However, the official record shows that Narendra Modi did not visit Naroda Patiya. The Gujarat government blocked telecasts of cable news channels broadcasting the expose, which was criticised by the Editors Guild of India. According to Human Rights Watch, in three cases the abdomens of pregnant women had been cut open and the foetus removed and thrown into a fire. One such incident came to light five years after the event: in 2007 Suresh Dedawala (Richard) alias Langado was caught on camera in a Tehelka sting operation, talking to Bajrangi about slitting the belly of a pregnant Muslim woman, Kausar Banu, extricating her foetus, and then killing it with a sword. However, in their report the Special Investigation Team did not find evidence to support this claim, and medical reports did not confirm it as the doctors who conducted the post-mortem on Banu's body had found the foetus inside her womb.
Tehelka is an Indian weekly magazine, founded by Tarun Tejpal. Started as a news portal, tehelka.com in 2000, it is best known for a sting operation that revealed rampant bribery in India's defence acquisitions.
Operation Fallen Heroes [2001]
In March 2000, Tehelka carried out a sting operation where former Indian cricketer Manoj Prabhakar participated with the magazine to expose the match-fixing ring in Indian cricket. In the 92-minute footage captured via a hidden camera that was screened to editors and reporters in the Imperial Hotel, Prabhakar was shown interacting with players and officials where details about accepting money from bookmakers were discussed.
In the resultant fallout, CBI implicated Mohammed Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja and Ajay Sharma as the cricketers involved in match-fixing. Sharma and Azharuddin were handed a lifetime ban from professional cricket by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, and Jadeja was banned for five years for their involvement with bookmakers.
Operation West End [2001]
In 2001, Tehelka created another sensation by releasing video footage of its first major sting operation, "Operation West End”. "Operation West End" was the brain child of special correspondent Mathew Samuel. The videos showed several defence officials, officers, and politicians from the then-ruling coalition Indian government discussing and accepting bribes. Tehelka had two reporters pose as arms dealers peddling "fourth generation thermal hand held cameras" on behalf of a British company (West End). The president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the mainstay of the government, Bangaru Laxman, was shown taking 100,000 Indian rupees (roughly $2,500 in U. S. dollars). He resigned the next day. He was followed a day later by the Minister of Defence George Fernandes who had appeared on the video-accepting twice as much.
Several additional Defence ministry officials and officers were suspended later. Samata Party member Jaya Jaitley was shown talking about accepting bribes of Rs 1 crore or more from arms dealer and former Naval officer Lt Cmdr Suresh Nanda, son of ex-Chief of Naval Staff Admiral S M Nanda. The government fought back by attacking Tehelka's methods. The Indian Media however lauded the investigation with some calling it as a ‘turning point’ in Indian journalism.
Bangaru Laxman, was caught on camera allegedly taking bribe from fake arms dealers for facilitating a fictitious defence deal case. He was sentenced to prison and bailed out later. George Fernandes was forced to resign but was reinstated later. In 2004, almost four years after the sting, the CBI registered cases against Jaitley, Bangaru Laxman and others in the Army and the Ministry of Defence. In 2012, Bangaru Laxman was sentenced to imprisonment after the court found the Tehelka sting valid and that Laxman had indeed taken a bribe.
Naroda Patiya/Gujarat riots [2007]
The magazine has come out with ground breaking investigative stories including involvement of right wing politicians and activists in the 2002 riots in Gujarat, which killed nearly 1000 Muslims. In a 2007 expose, Tehelka released hidden camera footage of several members of the BJP, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal, admitting their role in the riots. While the report was criticised by some as being politically motivated, some newspapers said the revelations simply reinforced what was common knowledge.
However, there were several inaccuracies in the statements that cast doubt on the sting operation. Bajrangi and Suresh Richard in the statements said that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi visited Naroda Patiya one day after the massacre to thank them. However, the official record shows that Narendra Modi did not visit Naroda Patiya. The Gujarat government blocked telecasts of cable news channels broadcasting the expose, which was criticised by the Editors Guild of India. According to Human Rights Watch, in three cases the abdomens of pregnant women had been cut open and the foetus removed and thrown into a fire. One such incident came to light five years after the event: in 2007 Suresh Dedawala (Richard) alias Langado was caught on camera in a Tehelka sting operation, talking to Bajrangi about slitting the belly of a pregnant Muslim woman, Kausar Banu, extricating her foetus, and then killing it with a sword. However, in their report the Special Investigation Team did not find evidence to support this claim, and medical reports did not confirm it as the doctors who conducted the post-mortem on Banu's body had found the foetus inside her womb.
TEHELKA SCAM (2000-2007)
Tehelka is an Indian weekly magazine, founded by Tarun Tejpal. Started as a news portal, tehelka.com in 2000, it is best known for a sting operation that revealed rampant bribery in India's defence acquisitions.
Operation Fallen Heroes [2001]
In March 2000, Tehelka carried out a sting operation where former Indian cricketer Manoj Prabhakar participated with the magazine to expose the match-fixing ring in Indian cricket. In the 92-minute footage captured via a hidden camera that was screened to editors and reporters in the Imperial Hotel, Prabhakar was shown interacting with players and officials where details about accepting money from bookmakers were discussed.
In the resultant fallout, CBI implicated Mohammed Azharuddin, Ajay Jadeja and Ajay Sharma as the cricketers involved in match-fixing. Sharma and Azharuddin were handed a lifetime ban from professional cricket by the Board of Control for Cricket in India, and Jadeja was banned for five years for their involvement with bookmakers.
Operation West End [2001]
In 2001, Tehelka created another sensation by releasing video footage of its first major sting operation, "Operation West End”. "Operation West End" was the brain child of special correspondent Mathew Samuel. The videos showed several defence officials, officers, and politicians from the then-ruling coalition Indian government discussing and accepting bribes. Tehelka had two reporters pose as arms dealers peddling "fourth generation thermal hand held cameras" on behalf of a British company (West End). The president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the mainstay of the government, Bangaru Laxman, was shown taking 100,000 Indian rupees (roughly $2,500 in U. S. dollars). He resigned the next day. He was followed a day later by the Minister of Defence George Fernandes who had appeared on the video-accepting twice as much.
Several additional Defence ministry officials and officers were suspended later. Samata Party member Jaya Jaitley was shown talking about accepting bribes of Rs 1 crore or more from arms dealer and former Naval officer Lt Cmdr Suresh Nanda, son of ex-Chief of Naval Staff Admiral S M Nanda. The government fought back by attacking Tehelka's methods. The Indian Media however lauded the investigation with some calling it as a ‘turning point’ in Indian journalism.
Bangaru Laxman, was caught on camera allegedly taking bribe from fake arms dealers for facilitating a fictitious defence deal case. He was sentenced to prison and bailed out later. George Fernandes was forced to resign but was reinstated later. In 2004, almost four years after the sting, the CBI registered cases against Jaitley, Bangaru Laxman and others in the Army and the Ministry of Defence. In 2012, Bangaru Laxman was sentenced to imprisonment after the court found the Tehelka sting valid and that Laxman had indeed taken a bribe.
Naroda Patiya/Gujarat riots [2007]
The magazine has come out with ground breaking investigative stories including involvement of right wing politicians and activists in the 2002 riots in Gujarat, which killed nearly 1000 Muslims. In a 2007 expose, Tehelka released hidden camera footage of several members of the BJP, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Bajrang Dal, admitting their role in the riots. While the report was criticised by some as being politically motivated, some newspapers said the revelations simply reinforced what was common knowledge.
However, there were several inaccuracies in the statements that cast doubt on the sting operation. Bajrangi and Suresh Richard in the statements said that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi visited Naroda Patiya one day after the massacre to thank them. However, the official record shows that Narendra Modi did not visit Naroda Patiya. The Gujarat government blocked telecasts of cable news channels broadcasting the expose, which was criticised by the Editors Guild of India. According to Human Rights Watch, in three cases the abdomens of pregnant women had been cut open and the foetus removed and thrown into a fire. One such incident came to light five years after the event: in 2007 Suresh Dedawala (Richard) alias Langado was caught on camera in a Tehelka sting operation, talking to Bajrangi about slitting the belly of a pregnant Muslim woman, Kausar Banu, extricating her foetus, and then killing it with a sword. However, in their report the Special Investigation Team did not find evidence to support this claim, and medical reports did not confirm it as the doctors who conducted the post-mortem on Banu's body had found the foetus inside her womb.