The 'whodunnit' mystery over the sensational Noida twin murder seems to have caught the news channels in a big way, with a media watchdog claiming that six leading TV networks devoted half of their prime time to the case.

 A study by Centre for Media Studies (CMS) said six channels beamed news and special programmes on the double murder for 39.30 hours out of a total 92 hours prime time --

from 19:00 hrs to 23:00 hrs -- between May 16 and June 7.

The CMS study analysed 23 days of prime time coverage of the May 16 murders of teenaged Noida girl Aarushi Talwar and her family help Hemraj, the investigation of which invited national attention after allegation of botch-up by UP Police.

The channels -- DD News, Zee News [Get Quote], Aaj Tak, Star News, NDTV 24X7 and CNN-IBN -- telecast 234 news reports and 62 special programmes during the period, the study said.

The news reports consumed about 17 hours of the prime time while specials ran into over 22 hours.

While Zee News topped the list with a coverage of close to 11 hours with 48 reports and 21 special programmes, DD News coverage of the crime was at the bottom with 24 reports running into just 41 minutes over 23 days under review.

 "The Arushi murder case was overplayed. If you consider the time for advertisements, I wonder how much time was devoted to other stories," Prabhakar, Head of CMS Media Lab, told PTI.

"We feel the Gujjar agitation, having more national ramification, did not get adequate TV coverage so also the crucial developments in Nepal when it turned into a republic," he said.