A video of news anchor Deepak Chaurasia paying tribute to Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, who was killed in a tragic helicopter crash in Tamil Nadu's Coonoor, had gone viral on social media.
In the viral video, Chaurasia was seen speaking in a peculiar way, which made several Twitter users wonder if the news anchor was in an inebriated state while hosting the show. Also, in a slip of tongue, he referred to General Bipin Rawat as VP Singh and said "we lost a journalist" instead of "general". Later, he was abruptly taken off air by the channel.
Meanwhile, the news anchor on Monday cleared the air on the viral video, saying it was side effect of painkillers.
In a long thread on Twitter, Chaurasia said he has a hairline fracture in his knee, and he made a mistake of taking painkillers in excess quantity. "Instead of reducing my pain after taking painkillers, my pain increased," he wrote.
"Various things were being said after watching the video, which is not true. I have been in journalism for over 25 years. That's why I don't need to learn the ethics of journalism from anyone," the news anchor added.
