Mumbai police arrest journalist Arnab Goswami, Union Minister Javadekar says reminds of Emergency days

Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami has been arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of a 53-year-old interior designer, reported PTI quoting Mumbai police official.

Reacting to the arrest of Goswami, Information and Broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar on Wednesday called the arrest, “an attack on press freedom,” and added that it reminded him of “Emergency days.”

Javadekar tweeted, “We condemn the attack on press freedom in Maharashtra. This is not the way to treat the Press. This reminds us of the emergency days when the press was treated like this.”

A Mumbai police official stated that a team of Aliburg police picked up Goswami from his residence on Tuesday morning. Goswami was pushed into the police van and has claimed that he was assaulted by police at his home.

In 2018, architect  Anvay Naik and his mother had committed suicide over alleged non-payment of dues by Goswami’s Republic TV.

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In May, 2020, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had announced a re-investigation in the case after Adnya Naik, the daughter of the architect, filed a fresh complaint against Goswami.

Adnya Naik had alleged that the Alibaug Police had not investigated the alleged non-payment of dues from Goswami’s channel, which she says drove her father and grandmother to suicide.