Power TV’s CCTV footage raises serious questions over Vicky’s death

Bengaluru

The CCTV footage released by Power TV to counter allegations surrounding the death of its former employee Vicky has raised several unanswered questions, particularly about what happened inside a lift that he entered with the channel’s anchor Sharath shortly before the incident.

The Blrpost.com apart from manually analysing the footage, also subjected to frame-frame analysis using high-end Claude AI and ChatGPT Astra. This website also clarifies that in the previous story the year of incident was wrongly mentioned as 2024 due to typo error. The incident occurred on June 19, 2025.

It should be noted that Power TV Managing Director, Rakesh Shetty, who showed this CCTV footage on live show is being investigated by a special team for carrying out sting operation targeting former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Shetty, who is infamosly known as Karnataka’s CD boy has secured interim anticipatory bail in the same case despite in his previous live show claimed he will not apply for bail.

The footage, aired by the news channel as a rebuttal to Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy’s allegation that Vicky died under suspicious circumstances, shows the two men entering the lift together at around 6.02 am. However, the next relevant footage aired by the channel shows a man whose clothing matches Sharath’s running down a staircase, while Vicky is subsequently seen being carried by a group of people into a car.

The crucial intervening moments are missing from the broadcast. The footage does not establish when or where the lift stopped, how Sharath got out, or how Vicky allegedly fell into the lift shaft.

Power TV’s narration offers a different explanation: the lift allegedly got stuck, Vicky panicked and attempted to climb out, and he fell into the shaft. But while the footage aired does not rule out this account, it does not independently establish that these events occurred.

Nine-minute gap after both men enter lift

According to a frame-by-frame analysis of the broadcast footage, Vicky is seen entering the building alone and walking towards the lift at around 6.01 am. He later exits the lift on the second floor, where Sharath approaches him. The two briefly interact before entering the lift together and travelling upwards. The channel’s narration says they were going upstairs to smoke.

The next footage from the relevant sequence begins at around 6.11 am, leaving an approximately eight-minute-and-35-second gap in the footage from the second-floor camera. The broadcast does not show when the lift stopped, what happened inside it, or who alerted the electrician.

At around 6.11 am, electrician Rayappa is seen attempting to force open the second-floor lift door. After failing, he walks upstairs. The channel’s narration says he received a call at about that time informing him that the lift had stopped.

At around 6.12 am, a man wearing a dark top and light-coloured trousers runs down the staircase, followed by a man in a light shirt and other staff members. The clothing of the first man matches what Sharath was wearing when he entered the lift, although the footage does not allow his identity to be established conclusively.

The broadcast then jumps to the basement at around 6.25 am, where a group of people carries an injured man into a white car. The footage does not show where the injured man was brought from or the rescue itself.

How did Sharath get out?

One of the most significant unanswered questions concerns how Sharath exited the lift.

If, as the channel’s narration suggests, the lift became stuck and Vicky fell into the shaft while attempting to climb out, the footage aired does not explain how Sharath got out of the lift or when he did so. It also does not show the lift’s position at the time of the alleged fall or whether its doors were opened manually.

The broadcast does not include footage from inside the lift, the third floor or the terrace that could help establish what happened. Nor does it show the relevant footage from the ground-floor lift lobby after Vicky entered the lift.

A further gap of about 57 seconds appears in the second-floor camera sequence immediately before the footage shows people running down the stairs. The subsequent jump to the basement leaves approximately 12.5 minutes unaccounted for, including the period during which the rescue is believed to have taken place.

The roughly 13-minute interval between the commotion seen at around 6.12 am and Vicky being carried into the car at around 6.25 am is another unanswered question.

Edited footage cannot settle the circumstances

The analysis of the broadcast notes that the CCTV clock advances consistently within the clips examined. However, the footage aired by Power TV is an edited selection that includes replays, split screens and highlights. The absence of visible clock irregularities within individual clips does not establish that the broadcast contains the complete recording.

The visible body language also offers no reliable basis for determining what happened. Vicky appears relaxed while entering the building and looking at his phone before Sharath joins him. The frames do not show an apparent struggle or reluctance at the lift door. Later, staff members are seen running and appearing agitated.

These observations are consistent with a sudden emergency but cannot establish whether the death was accidental or resulted from any other circumstances. The footage does not, by itself, establish wrongdoing by any individual.

Full footage and lift records needed

A conclusive assessment would require the complete, unedited recordings from every relevant CCTV camera, along with the recorder’s logs and file-integrity information. The lift’s controller and fault logs would also be crucial to establish when and where it stopped and whether its doors were opened manually.

The accounts of Sharath and electrician Rayappa, along with the post-mortem findings and police records relating to the UDR, would be necessary to reconstruct the sequence of events.

The central issue remains unresolved: two men entered the lift, but only one is subsequently seen moving on his own in the footage aired by the channel. The decisive moments are absent from the broadcast.

The CCTV footage released by Power TV to explain Vicky’s death has therefore left important questions unanswered. Those gaps do not prove foul play, but neither does the footage independently establish the channel’s account of an accident. The complete recordings and supporting evidence are needed to determine what happened.