Chhattisgarh Police is exploring legal options against the Uttar Pradesh Police in Noida and Ghaziabad for preventing it from arresting TV news anchor Rohit Ranjan, a senior police official said.
Meanwhile, a police team which had camped in Ghaziabad to arrest Ranjan over a "doctored video" of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has left for Raipur.
The 11-member team from Raipur, led by a Deputy Superintendent of Police, landed in Ghaziabad on Tuesday morning to arrest Zee News anchor Ranjan.
The anchor and others have been booked for airing a misleading video on their show on July 1.
The team from Chhattisgarh could not arrest Ranjan as police officials from Noida and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh whisked him away a few hours earlier.
On Wednesday, the visiting police team issued summons to Ranjan and some of his colleagues to join the probe in Raipur on July 12 to get their statements recorded in connection with the FIR lodged there.
Ranjan was arrested by the Noida police in connection with a probe into a case lodged by
it on a complaint by Zee Media group over the video.
The police in Noida on Tuesday night announced it released Ranjan after an inquiry as the offences invoked in the case were bailable. The Chhattisgarh Police, which had an arrest warrant and a court order for his arrest, declared the anchor an "absconder".
"The Chhattisgarh police team had gone to arrest the anchor but the local police obstructed the procedure. The accused is untraceable, and the local police are not sharing any information about his whereabouts," a senior police official said.
"We are now seeking legal options against the police in Ghaziabad and Noida," the official said.
Meanwhile, the anchor, facing several FIRs in different states for the doctored video, on Thursday again sought urgent hearing from the Supreme Court on his plea seeking protection from coercive action for the alleged offence.