Inspired by Jigna Vora’s book, Netflix’s series Scoop digs deep to find the reason behind Vora’s arrest. A passionate journalist with a tragic past, Jagruti Pathak navigates through the male-dominated space to deliver most of the front-page news of the Eastern Age. Her ambition and drive to be the best were often interpreted as desperate and bossy, and during her seven-year journalistic career, she garnered quite a bit of attention. The ones who eyed Jagruti’s position rumored that she traded her body for the connections she had painstakingly built over the years with her sources. Pathak turned a deaf ear to the rumors; she focused on her job, knowing well that as long as she could deliver breaking news, she would be in the game.
Spoilers Alert
‘Scoop’ Plot Summary: What Is The Series About?
Jagruti did not waste a minute arriving at the crime scene when she received a call informing her about the death of Iqbal Kaskar’s driver, Hussain. She knew it was breaking news the moment she heard about the attack on D-company. The Police blamed Chhota Rajan for the murder, but senior journalist Jaideb Sen did not agree with their theory. He believed Rajan could have murdered Hussain at his Byculla residence instead of shooting him near Kaskar’s house. Jagruti concluded that the target must have been Kaskar, but the Police stated that Hussain was the man Rajan wanted to kill. According to Jaideb Sen, Chhota Rajan was simply taking credit for all the recent murders related to the D-company, but he was not the one behind them. The question was: why would Rajan take the blame for the murders? And what was the Mumbai Crime Branch hiding? Why was Hussain killed and not Kaskar? If not Rajan, then who was behind the murder? The Police trashed Sen’s theory. They were not interested in getting into the complexities that Sen suggested. After overhearing Sen’s theory, Jagruti, too, wondered what the underlying reason was behind the sudden death of Kaskar’s driver. She could sense this was something big, and as a journalist, it was her duty to pursue the questions.
Imran was not only the editor-in-chief of Eastern Age but also Jagruti’s mentor. He believed in Jagruti’s capability, but at the same time, he consistently reminded her of the importance of pursuing the truth instead of chasing controversy. She discussed the pattern Sen mentioned with Imran, and he, too, believed there was potential in what Sen was proposing. Jagruti started to dig deep, but she was taken aback when Sen sternly warned her to stay out of the case. She assumed that Sen wanted to protect his news story, making her all the more determined to deliver the breaking news first. Jagruti’s chase took a backseat when she decided to travel with her family to Kashmir. As a single working mother, Jagruti barely had time for her son, so she planned the trip to spend a few days with him. Unfortunately, she was forced to shorten her trip the moment she received the news of Sen Dada’s death. Jaideb Sen was shot multiple times by men on a bike. The question was: who murdered Sen, and why?
Why Was Jagruti Pathak Arrested?
Before leaving for Kashmir, Jagruti tried to contact Chhota Rajan to find out his version of the Hussain story. Her source fixed her a meeting with Rajan’s man, Samson. During her conversation with Samson, he expressed his bitterness toward Sen. He believed Sen had a connection with Dawood, and he wanted Jagruti to find out the purpose of Sen’s Europe trip in exchange for an exclusive interview with Chhota Rajan. We later get to know that Jagruti did not agree to the deal, but surprisingly, Chhota Rajan called her for an interview. After Sen’s death, Chhota Rajan confessed to killing him for writing articles that belittled him. He further stated that it was Jagruti Pathak who provoked him to take action against Sen. Pathak watched the people she once worked with speak against her.
The Mumbai Crime Branch stated in a press conference that they had evidence that proved it was Jagruti Pathak who provided Sen’s details to Chhota Rajan, and that was the reason why Pathak was charged under the MCOCA Act. Harshvardhan Shroff (JCP, Crime) stated that they had traced 36 calls between Rajan and Pathak. Shroff and the rest tried to build a case against Jagruti under pressure from their seniors. The number of phone calls was merely 3, but to arrest her falsely, it was changed to 36. People wanted justice for Sen, and the Police tried their best to deliver a case that seemed full-proof. Jagruti Pathak was wrongfully arrested for conspiring to murder Sen, but the media was happy with the version the crime branch produced. A single mother who got in trouble for being too ambitious is exactly the kind of story that sells, and the journalists who once looked up to Jagruti did not waste a minute criticizing her. Deepa, the intern who worked under Jagruti, was the first to jump to conclusions after conducting superficial research. She blindly believed what she was being fed by the Police and became a mouthpiece for their agenda. She used the situation to her advantage to climb the ladder, but eventually, she started to fade out. Further implying how sources do not build a journalist; their ethics and talent do. Jagruti was devastated by the turn of events. She was shocked that her family and even her son, who lived at a boarding school, were not spared by the media. Her personal life was dissected on television, and she was labeled a woman without character. Within seconds, her career was destroyed, and she ended up becoming the victim of a media trial.
Why Was The Chargesheet Against Jagruti Considered Baseless?
After the charge sheet was filed, Jagruti Pathak brought Advocate Vashisht to defend her case upon the advice of her lawyer friend, Bhavesh. During her courtroom hearing, Vashisht categorically pointed out how the chargesheet filed by the state did not have any solid evidence to prove Pathak guilty. She was accused of mailing Chhota Rajan Sen’s photograph, his registered bike number, and his address. Vashisht pointed out that such information already exists on the internet, and Rajan did not really need Pathak’s help. The fact that Rajan allegedly relied on Pathak for such basic information seemed all the more dubious.
According to the charge sheet, 36 calls were exchanged between Pathak and Rajan, but there was no proof of it. Vashisht stated that the only reason to arrest Pathak under the MCOCA Act was to introduce extrajudicial confessions, particularly a phone call in which Rajan confessed Pathak’s involvement. Mocking the state prosecutor, Vashisht remarked that anyone could land in prison if the court started to consider Rajan’s confessions as pure truth. He emphasized that the state used MCOCA because they knew their only proof was a phone call, and it is only under the MCOCA act that such proof is admissible in court.
A simple text that Pathak had sent to Sen was dubbed a threat by the Police. According to the prosecutor’s claim, Pathak went on a sudden trip to Kashmir, timing it perfectly with the murder of Sen. Vashisht dismissed the claim and pointed out that Pathak had booked the tickets and hotels well in advance. She emailed her boss two weeks prior to the trip. It was impossible that she predicted the death of Sen months before she even had a conversation with Rajan. The claim that Pathak used the articles that Sen published criticizing Rajan to provoke Rajan was baseless because she had booked the tickets even before Sen published his articles. Moreover, Rajan discussed Pathak’s involvement only after he claimed that his men had informed him about Sen. It seemed obvious that Rajan was asked to blame Jagruti for the murder to protect his right-hand man Irani and he chose Pathak as his scapegoat. What was all the more shocking was that the permission to trace Rajan’s calls was granted exactly on the day he actually made a call to the Mumbai police. He pleaded with the court to grant Pathak bail based on the fact that it was her words against the words of an underworld don. Jagruti was granted bail after spending nine months and 25 days in prison for a crime she did not commit.
‘Scoop’ Ending Explained: What Was The Police Underworld Nexus Story?
According to Jaideb Sen’s theory, Chhota Rajan was not the one responsible for Hussain’s murder. He thought it was impossible that Rajan wanted to shoot a driver when he could have shot Dawood’s brother. It was possible that Iqbal Kaskar was the target of the shooter, but someone tipped him off, and his driver was killed in the process. But who was protecting D-company, and why? Sen concluded that it was the IB (Intelligence Bureau) that was trying to take down Dawood’s men and not Chhota Rajan. Perhaps the IB planned on finding Dawood’s location by taking a hit at his brother. They missed their targets because someone was acting against their interests. IB could not admit to the failed shootouts; therefore, Chhota Rajan took the blame (perhaps to protect himself). Sen noticed that the Mumbai Police was always saving Dawood, but the reason behind it was what Imran was after. Scoop ends with a Mumbai Police Dawood nexus theory that explains Pathak’s arrest and the entire conspiracy. Imran studied the research that Sen conducted, and the fact that he kept it inside a locker further implied how sensational his news story was. His flash drive consisted of call records, and Imran assumed that Iqbal Mirchi helped him get access to them. The calls were made a day before the Delhi double arrests. Pratap Acharya was the Commissioner of Police at the time, and he was the one who issued arrest warrants, and the then DCP Ramesh Malik made those arrests. Therefore, Imran doubted that they were linked to the Dawood-Mumbai police nexus theory.
Malik’s life goal was to arrest Dawood, which meant that he did not know the larger conspiracy he was a part of and was simply following orders. Later, he must have uncovered the truth, and he tried to hide his involvement. When Sen got access to the calls and questioned Malik about his involvement, he must have threatened him. The call data records proved that Pratap Acharya was in contact with Chhota Shakeel a day before the Delhi double arrest. Shakeel had found out about the IB’s plan to assassinate Dawood, and he asked Pratap Acharya to fix the problem. Imraan concluded that Iqbal Mirchi shared the details with Sen to prove that the D-company continued to hold a significant influence over the Mumbai Police. According to Imran’s theory, Sen reached out to Malik, hoping that his interest in getting hold of Dawood would get him to confess the truth, but it seems Malik continued to be loyal to Acharya till the very end. The fact that, after his retirement, Pratap Acharya joined BCP further confirmed his theory. Sen was after the Mumbai Police, and his investigation was groundbreaking. He was murdered because he was searching for the truth, and the truth turned out to be ugly. The ones responsible for protecting the country were busy helping underworld dons. The corruption could destroy the trust of common citizens in the Police, let alone the damage it would have caused to those involved. Imran discussed his theory with Jagruti Pathak soon after she was released from prison. Even though it was not a story yet, considering they needed evidence to prove it, Imran was glad to have his protege on board to investigate and find out the truth behind the entire conspiracy. While Imran’s theory lacked evidence, it was certain that Jagruti Pathak was caught in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people.
Scoop‘s ending has video snippets of Jigna Vora, in which she discussed the humiliation she had to go through even though she was innocent. After spending years wondering about the reason behind her arrest, Vora remarks that she still does not have an answer. It is impossible for her to completely recover from the damage; she cannot forget how she was treated and how her family was harassed. Vora admits that she has forgiven everyone, but she cannot forget the nightmare she had to live through.
