A court at Alibaug, in Raigad district of Maharashtra has sent Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami and two other accused to judicial custody till November 18, after arrest in connection with a 2018 abetment to suicide case. Meanwhile another complaint has been filed against Arnab Goswami and 4 others by a women constable SG Tanvade, of the Mumbai Police. She has alleged that Goswami, his wife Samyabrata Goswami, their son, and two unknown persons obstructed police officers from carrying out their duties, and specifically for assaulting female police officers on duty, reported Bar and Bench.
This FIR is registered under Indian Penal Code Sections 353 (deterring public servant from discharging duty), 504 and 506 (provoking breach of peace) and also under provisions of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. Constable Tanvade in her statement, submitted that she and other officers of the Mumbai Police accompanied the unit from the Raigad police for arresting Arnab Goswami in the 2018 Anvay Naik abetment of suicide case that was recently re-opened. Tanvade alleged that while Arnab was being arrested, he and his son assaulted the police officers, reported B&B, adding that the constable submitted that that Goswami obstructed the officers from carrying out their duty by threatening to take action against them. The report quoted Tanvade’s statement that cited Goswami’s words: “I am a journalist, I will ensure action is taken against the police.”
Constable Tanvade added that Goswami’s wife “tore an official arrest document”, after Goswami “ordered his wife not to sign any papers given by the police.” According to the news report “before tearing the paper, Goswami’s wife wrote on the paper “forcibly picked up” in the place allocated for her signatures” and after the police officers told her to not do so, she tore the paper. In a video released by their channel Samyabrata Goswami had claimed that the police had torn the paper while “snatching it from her.” According to Constable Tanvade “the accused in the FIR took all measures to ensure that Arnab could not be arrested by the police”, this compelled her to file this FIR.
Arnab Goswami was produced before the Alibaug Court on Wednesday in after his arrest in connection with the 2018 case of interior designer Anvay Naik’s death by suicide. According to news reports the police had sought Goswami’s custody for 14 days, however according to the court custodial interrogation was not required.
According to a report in ABP, Goswami’s lawyers Aabad Ponda and Gaurav Parkar filed an application seeking bail. The bail hearing is likely to be held today, Thursday November 5. The police have been asked to file their reply. Goswami was lodged at a police station on Wednesday night as the court proceedings went on till late. Earlier in the day Goswami was taken for medical check-up at the civil hospital, and brought back to court later in the evening.
According to the news report the court, after perusing the medical report, noted in its order that “allegations of physical assault were incorrect and there were only minor scratches on the accused’s hand.”
He has been booked under section 306 (abetment of suicide) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC in connection with the suicide of architect-interior designer Anvay Naik and Naik’s mother over alleged non-payment of dues by Republic TV in 2018. The two others arrested in the case are Feroze Mohammed Shaikh and Nitesh Sarda. They were also produced in court and remanded to judicial custody till November 18.
The Indian Express reported that for Anvay Naik’s family, this arrest is the ‘first step in battle for justice’. The managing director of Mumbai-based architectural and interior designing firm Concorde Designs, died by suicide and his mother Kumud, who was also found dead in the bungalow along with him, was on the board of directors of the firm. Anvay’s daughter, Adnya Naik, was quoted by IE saying, “Goswami has been doing shows about the suicide of Sushant Singh Rajput and aggressively seeking arrests even though no suicide note was left behind. In the case of my father and grandmother, they left behind a suicide note specifically naming Goswami and two others but no action was taken against them for nearly two years.”
Adnya and her mother Akshata told the media they have done everything from starting a YouTube channel, writing to the Prime Minister’s Office to approaching Goswami himself, in order to get justice. “Right from the day of the suicide, there has been pressure on us to not get an FIR lodged. The police then told us that powerful people were involved and we should not get an FIR registered. However, when we insisted, an FIR was registered,” Adnya told the media.
Akshata replied to allegations by Goswami’s supporters that he was arrested due to ‘political vendetta’, and said, “This is justice for a family that had been fighting against powerful people like Goswami. Only people who do not know about our struggle can make such statements. What has happened to us has not happened to the families of the politicians alleging political vendetta.We do not want to make this political. It is about a family seeking justice for two of its members. Even now, when we see the emails written by my father to Arnab asking him to return dues of Rs 83 lakh, we start crying. He had mailed him a couple of times the month before his suicide and called it ‘a matter of life and death’ in the mail, but there was no response.”
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