Aniruddha Bahal is the founder and editor-in-chief of Cobrapost an Indian news website. [1] Prior to founding Cobrapost, he co-founded Tehelka . [1] [2]
Aniruddha Bahal | |
---|---|
Occupation | Journalist |
Organization | Cobrapost |
Notable work | Bunker 13 -Crack in the Mirror (1991) -The Emissary (2010) -The Adventures of Rhea: The Cobrapost Affair (2015) -A Taste For Trouble : Memories From Another Time (2021) |
Bahal was born in Allahabad and is a university graduate. He moved to Delhi in 1991 where he began his journalistic career by writing and editing some articles at the Outlook and the India Today. [3] In 1999, he co-founded Tehelka.com – a news website, with Tarun Tejpal and another colleague from the Outlook after "an investor with deep pockets" agreed to underwrite their startup, according to the Independent. [3]
In 2003, Bahal wrote an espionage thriller Bunker 13 . [2] Its "hipster-slang-spitting antihero", states an article on Bahal in the UK-based newspaper the Independent, "shoots smack, snorts speed, runs guns, administers date-rape drugs" and a scene therein went on to win the Literary Review's Bad Sex in Fiction Award. [3] [4]
In 2005, Bahal founded and became the editor-in-chief of the online news magazine Cobrapost. It is particularly known for its undercover sting operations. [1]
In 2008, he started hosting The Tony B Show for Channel V. [3] [5] [2]
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Tehelka is an Indian news magazine known for its investigative journalism and sting operations. According to the British newspaper The Independent, the Tehelka was founded by Tarun Tejpal, Aniruddha Bahal and another colleague who worked together at the Outlook magazine after "an investor with deep pockets" agreed to underwrite their startup. Bahal left Tehelka in 2005 to start Cobrapost – an Indian news website, after which Tehelka was managed by Tejpal through 2013. In 2013, Tejpal stepped aside from Tehelka after being accused of sexual assault by his employee. Tehelka had cumulative losses of ₹66 crore (US$8.3 million) till 2013, while being majority owned and financed by Kanwar Deep Singh – an industrialist, a politician and a member of Indian parliament.
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Bunker 13: A Novel is a 2003 novel about an Indian journalist working on a weekly news magazine, who is investigating reports of corruption in some rogue outfits in the Indian army in the Kashmir sector. Drugs, sex and espionage are the central themes and is the first novel by Aniruddha Bahal. It achieved international attention and positive reviews.
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Tarun Tejpal is an Indian journalist, publisher, novelist and former editor-in-chief of Tehelka magazine. In November 2013, he stepped down as editor for six months after a female colleague accused him of sexual assault. On 21 May 2021, a Goa trial court presided over by Justice Kshama Joshi acquitted him of all charges.
Operation West End was a sting operation conducted in 2001 by Indian news magazine Tehelka to expose defence deals conducted by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led NDA government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Over a seven-and-half-month investigation, special correspondents of the magazine filmed several corrupt defence officials and politicians of NDA government including the BJP President Bangaru Laxman accepting bribes and discussing kickbacks.
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Operation Red Spider was an anti-money laundering sting operation of an online magazine, Cobrapost. Cobrapost released video footage, recorded largely by hidden cameras, showing high-ranking officials and some employees of the top three Indian banks suggesting to an undercover reporter methods to launder money. The officials offered safe deposit lockers to stash away the black money, accounts that did not adhere to Reserve Bank of India guidelines, and 'benami' (false) accounts to facilitate the conversion of the black money and keep the depositor's identity a secret. The editor of Cobrapost, Aniruddha Bahal, placed the video footage into the public domain on 14 March 2013.
Mathew Samuel is a former managing editor of the Indian news magazine Tehelka. He is one of the founding members of the magazine, and as a special correspondent there, he instigated Tehelka's biggest corruption investigation, Operation West End. This sting operation led to the resignation of four senior ministers of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and nearly brought down the BJP-led national government in 2001. The top politicians and officials caught in the sting were later convicted by the court of law.
The Truth: Gujarat 2002 was an investigative report on the 2002 Gujarat riots published by India's Tehelka news magazine in its 7 November 2007 issue. The video footage was screened by the news channel Aaj Tak. The report, based on a six-month-long investigation and involving video sting operations, stated that the violence was made possible by the support of the state police and the then Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi for the perpetrators. The report and the reactions to it were widely covered in Indian and international media. The recordings were authenticated by India's Central Bureau of Investigation on 10 May 2009.
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Cobrapost is a non-profit Indian news website that was founded in 2005 by Aniruddha Bahal – the co-founder of Tehelka. It is particularly known for its undercover investigative journalism.
Anuranjan Jha is an Indian journalist and author. He is a well-known persona in Indian media. For the past 25 years, while Mr Jha was praised for his frank, unbiased opinions and constructive experimentation in journalism, he was also instrumental in exposing social corruption at various levels. Some of his stings and investigative stories are rare examples in Media Industry. He was the founder and CEO of "Media Sarkar", an online current affairs website that conducted controversial sting operation on Aam Aadmi Party in 2013. Prior to that, Jha had launched India's first matrimonial television channel, Shagun TV. His career in journalism spans 25 years. Before launching Shagun TV, Jha has worked with India TV, Cobrapost, Zee News, Aaj Tak, BAG Films, India News and Jansatta, and was chief operating officer (COO) of CNEB, a news channel. He has published three books as an author- Ramlila Maidan, Gandhi Maidan and Jhoom.
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