Zee News on Friday suspended two of its employees for flashing a report that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was "not well".

"We have suspended Raju Karni, our correspondent in Jammu, and Dinesh Gautam, coordinator in Delhi, with immediate effect," Lakshmi Goel, Director, Zee News, said in New Delhi.

He said the channel had carried the news item on its scroll for 40 seconds in the morning bulletin and 30 minutes later changed it saying the prime minister was well and would participate in all scheduled programmes. This was also announced verbally by the newsreaders, Goel said.

The TV channel also nominated Aditi Kaul as its correspondent in Jammu, he added.

Addressing a press conference in Jammu, Vajpayee had taken strong exception to the report and said he was hale and hearty.