Sarun Thomas, a  lawyer in the making   who led the youth brigade of Best Citizen Journalist-3,demonstrated his strong sense of justice in his reports  to become the best amongst those who had volunteered to patrol society for signs of lawlessness .

His stunning expose on how the Kollam YMCA illegally occupied and utilized Government property to reap profits in the Headline Story Round, the pathetic plight of the girls  trapped in the scandalous Mysore marriages  and his compelling performances in the Question & Answer Round  tilted the scales in his favour, to be conferred the title of Best Citizen Journalist and made his wallet heavier by the prize money of Rs1.5 lakhs.

Santosh Kumar’s  scoop that made a mark in the Headlines Round on the clandestine ways in which  urea subsidies from the Central Government  meant for the agricultural sector were diverted for industrial uses and a mother’s shocking first hand account of  how her daughter was molested to death by her father made him worthy of the 2nd place while swelling his bank account by Rs.75,000.

Sahin Antony’s absorbing account of  mandatory laws on emergency exits in buses being flouted with impunity by bus owners and his Best Story of banned Pan Masala outlets mushrooming in all public places earned him the 3rd place and a purse of Rs. 50,000.

Best  Citizen Journalist -3 which had been steering an electrifying course in the largely unchartered waters of Citizen Journalism for the past few weeks,  docked into its Grand Finale on August 1st.

Launched in the beginning of May this year, it had been leaving in its wake a trail of solved crimes, exclusive scoops and sensational exposes, uncovered by the dedicated band of 17 Citizen Journalists on board.

Loaded  with inside stories that burned  the wires during transmission, the 5 finalists –Biju, Sahin, Santosh, Sarun and Vimal were at their journalistic best in the Grand Finale that took place before an elite invited audience of  Mr. K. Jayakumar IAS ( Additional Chief Secretary)Mr Jacob Punoose DGP,  Mr K.P Somarajan DGP Vigilance ,
 IPS officers Ms. R. Sreelekha, Mr.S.Gopinath, and other eminent  bureaucrats.

The 3 tiered Final was   evaluated by the Jury of  K.Govindan Kutty, Senior Journalist and actor, along with Mr Sasikumar, Principal of the Asian College of Journalism and
Mr.M.G. Radhakrishnan , Associate Editor India Today.