MUMBAI: Star News' crime show Red Alert will air a special episode on 6 August to on the occasion of completion of 100 episodes.

The show, which launched 2 August 2003, is presently hosted by Jitendra Dixit.

The weekend show, airing at 11:30 pm notched up a 214 per cent viewership growth post-launch in August 2003 in the late night time slot.

In a statement today issued, Star News said Red Alert is the "original, path-breaking crime special that spurred the current spate of crime programs across news channels."

However, while these programs might look similar, they quite haven't been able to match the flavour or the unique character of this original "favourite," the statement claimed.

Episodes featuring Maninder Pal Singh, wanted in the rape and murder of British student Hannah Foster, Star News said got positive repsonse from viewers as the xcrime programme sensitised people to such heinous acts.

A spokesperson for Star News said, "Red Alert was an attempt to break the mould and involve the viewer in the crime-fighting process. More importantly, the crimes and scandals exposed and criminals nabbed as a result of Red Alert's unrelenting focus on exposing crime draw up as medals of recognition in our mission to build a better society."

Some of the exposes by Red Alert include a first time sting operation post-Tehelka that delved into the involvement of glamorous Bollywood actresses and models in a high profile prostitution racket.

The show also, during its 100-episode journey, highlighted a medieval exploitation of women through Arab tourists seeking quickly dissolvable contract marriages in the back alleys of Hyderabad for short bursts of pleasure.

An episode on Baby killer Darbara Singh featured an exclusive story by Star News on the kidnapping, raping and killing of scores of innocent children in Jalandhar. The story was brought into focus by Red Alert, resulting in the pedophile's subsequent arrest.