Wednesday, November 3rd Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami was arrested from his Lower Parel residence in Mumbai for abetting the suicide of a 53-year-old interior designer and his mother in 2018.
Goswami was taken in judicial custody for 14 days by the magistrate’s court in Alibaug, which rejected the plea for police custody.
Anvay Naik, the owner of Concorde Designs Pvt Ltd, had left behind a suicide note stating that he was ending his life because of non-payment of dues by Goswami, Feroz Shaikh and Niteish Sarda. According to the suicide note, it mentioned that the three owed Anvay Rs 83 lakh, Rs 4 crore and Rs 55 lakh respectively.
An FIR had been filed against all three but the case was closed in 2019 due to BJP government in Maharashtra. Naik’s daughter Adnya and widow Akshata told journalists that investigation into the case was “suppressed only because of Arnab Goswami”.
“We had made applications to various people, including the Prime Minister’s Office and superintendent of police, Raigad, to get justice for my father,” Adnya Naik said. “We don’t want to get into politics.… What we want is justice for my deceased father.”
Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh ordered a fresh probe in May after a complaint by Adnya. “Nobody is above the law and Maharashtra police will take appropriate action as per law,” Deshmukh said on Wednesday.
The other two accused for the abetment have also been arrested. Akshata said that no action was taken in 2018 when she and her mother filed a complaint and they received numerous threat calls and were stalked.
After the arrest, Goswami was produced in the Alibaug court where he complained of assault by the police. The magistrate directed the police to take Goswami to the civil hospital for a medical check-up.
The court, after examining the medical report, noted in the order that the allegations of physical assault were inappropriate and there were only minor scratches on the accused’s hand.
One more FIR was filed against Goswami, his wife, son and two others by Mumbai police for allegedly assaulting a police official. “When we gave the intimation (of arrest) to Goswami’s wife, she tore up the paper,” the official said.
Barring Prime Minister Narendra Modi, almost all ministers, chief ministers and leaders of the BJP came out in Goswami’s defence, condemning his arrest and slamming the “Congress and its allies” for “shaming democracy”.
The Editors Guild of India expressed shock and condemned the “sudden arrest”.
However, the Television Journalists’ Association, Maharashtra, said Goswami had been arrested in a case related to a personal matter and not on a professional ground. “Every citizen is equal in the eyes of law. Law must take its own course…,” it said in a statement.
