New Delhi: Republic TV Editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami and two other people named Feroz Shaikh and Nitesh Sarda has been sent to 14-day judicial custody by Alibaug District Magistrate Court, reported ANI on Wednesday. Earlier in the evening, a second FIR was registered against the senior journalist Arnab Goswami for allegedly assaulting a woman police officer while he was arrested this morning from his residence in a 2018 abetment to suicide case.

The fresh FIR was registered against Goswami, his wife, son and two others at N M Joshi Marg police station under sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of duty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (acts by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

Earlier in the day, the senior journalist was arrested regarding the deaths of interior designer Anvay Naik and his mother who died by suicide in Alibaug in May 2018. Naik allegedly left a suicide note which mentions that Goswami had not paid him his dues.

Later in the evening, Goswami alleged that he, along with his mother-in-law, father-in-law, son and wife, was physically assaulted by the policemen who went to arrest him.

Republic TV channel has telecast visuals of Mumbai police entering Goswami’s residence and what appears to be a scuffle. The owner of Republic TV had also shown injury marks to the reporters after he reached the police station, and alleged that the policemen assaulted him, held him by the scruff of his neck and pushed him.

Goswami’s lawyer Gaurav Parker had alleged that the journalist has been arrested in a case without an FIR and was assaulted by two policemen at his residence.

The suicide case, in which a closure report was filed in 2019, was reopened after Naik’s wife Akshata approached a court. In September this year, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had ordered a re-investigation into the case after a fresh complaint by Naik’s daughter.

Meanwhile, the journalist’s arrest has also attracted sharp criticism of the Maharashtra government by several ministers, including Home Minister Amit Shah and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Many other BJP leaders have also accused the state government of misusing their power.

On the other hand, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut today said that the arrest of Goswami was done after following due procedures and added that the Maharashtra government and political leaders do not interfere in the functioning of the police department.

The Editors Guild of India and All India Bar Association (AIBA) have also condemned the arrest. The AIBA also termed the arrest a violation of several Supreme Court guidelines.

(With ANI Inputs)