PTR audio leak: TN BJP leader urges Governor to initiate forensic audit on clip

The audio clip, purportedly a recording of the finance minister's interaction with journalists, alleges that a DMK minister and one of his relatives had amassed huge ill-gotten wealth.
Bharatiya Janata Party leader VP Duraisamy
Bharatiya Janata Party leader VP Duraisamy

CHENNAI: A BJP delegation led by the party's state vice-president VP Duraisamy is meeting Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi this evening to urge him to initiate an independent forensic audit on the audio clip attributed to Palanivel Thiaga Rajan.

The audio clip, purportedly a recording of the finance minister's interaction with journalists, alleges that a DMK minister and one of his relatives had amassed huge ill-gotten wealth.

The finance minister in a statement on Saturday said the audio clip was not authentic and that forensic analysis of the audio proved that it is a clear case of manipulation by cutting and pasting several clips to defame DMK and him.

Reacting to it, on Sunday, the BJP said it will urge the governor to initiate an independent forensic audit of the audio clip. In a statement, the party's state unit president K Annamalai said a six-member team will meet Governor RN Ravi to hand over a representation.


The statement also said, "We challenge him (Palanivel Thiaga Rajan) to produce an audio clip with similar content but instead in my voice. We shall submit both audio samples to a Court monitored investigation and let the investigating agency ascertain the genuine nature of both audio clips."

Annamalai had also shared the audio clip on his social media handle a few hours after it was first posted by certain social media personalities and a BJP functionary. Annamalai said the audio clip supports the claims he made in his "DMK files".

However, DMK in response had said BJP is unable to electorally make gains in the state and has been making such baseless allegations against the ruling party.

In his Saturday statement, Palanivel Thiaga Rajan said, "With the ability to create fabricated and machine-generated clips using advanced technology that is easily accessible, we should not be surprised to see more audio and even video clips in the coming days and months with ever-more malicious content."

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