News channel slams K'taka govt, says govt issued 'gag order'

Bengaluru, Nov 25: Karnataka's news channels News 9 and TV 9 have alleged that they have been blacked out in many parts of the state after the government issued orders for the same.

According to a report in NDTV, TV9 and News9 alleged that cable operators have blocked these two channels on government's order. However after facing criticism, both the channels were back on air for a few minutes but suffered the black out again.

State Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao told NDTV that the government had nothing to do with the blackout. "The government has nothing to do with the blackout. Why should we target the media, especially only one channel? I think this is more an issue between the cable operators and the channel or this particular group," Rao said.

This comes days after the same channel was blocked in Telangana by CM Chandrasekhar Rao. However the channels were soon aired back after Rao faced criticism.

Meanwhile, News9 took to Twitter and Facebook to clarify the entire issue:

#BREAKING: TV9,NEWS9 'BLACK OUT' in Karnataka by State government

— NEWS9 (@NEWS9TWEETS) November 24, 2014

Media blackout in Karnataka...Congress govt muzzle media ask cable operators to blackout NEWS9 &TV9 #GovtGagsMedia

— NEWS9 (@NEWS9TWEETS) November 25, 2014

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