In a bizarre turn of events in the ongoing witch-hunt against Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami, the Mumbai Police has arrested one of its own police officers on the charges that he had filed a closure report in the 2018 suicide case, reports Hindustan Times.
According to the reports, a day after Arnab Goswami was arrested on the charges of abetting suicide in 2018, the Mumbai Police also arrested a cop for filing closure report citing no evidence to probe the case. The cop was the investigating officer in the 2018 Anvay Naik’s suicide case.
In May 2018, an FIR was filed against Arnab Goswami in an alleged abetment to suicide case. An Interior Designer had committed suicide in his bungalow in Alibaug. In a suicide note, Anvay Naik claimed Goswami and the other two persons—Feroz Shaikh and Niteish Sarda—owed him a total of Rs 5.4 crore. The Times of India had then reported Arnab Goswami had allegedly not paid Rs 83 lakh for a design project of a studio.
However, Goswami was investigated and case was closed by court after a closure report was filed by the Police. You could read about the case in detail here.
Shockingly, Mumbai Police have now gone to the extent of arresting one of its own cop in their attempt to carry out their vendetta against Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami.
The Naik suicide case and what Arnab Goswami says
Goswami has claimed in his petition that ARG Outlier Media Pvt Ltd, the firm that owns and operates Republic TV, had paid 90% of the dues to deceased Anvay Naik’s company Concorde Designs Pvt. Ltd. (CDPL) over two years ago. He further said that ARG Outlier media Pvt Ltd made several attempts for complete and final settlement of all claims but the absence of shareholders or directors in CDPL rendered the attempts unsuccessful. He said that the entire amount due to CDPL was transferred to CDPL’s bank account in July 2019 but it was reverted because the account was inoperative.
In his plea, Goswami denied having any direct involvement with the deceased interior designer and contended that his interaction with the deceased regarding the payments was strictly professional in nature. For the reasons provided in the plea, he further contended that a case of abetment of suicide under section 306 of the Indian Penal Code was not made out against him.
“It is a settled principle of law that to attract ingredients of abetment, the intention of the accused to aid or instigate or abet the deceased to commit suicide is necessary. In the present case, by no stretch of imagination can it be said that there existed an intention to aid, instigate or abet the deceased to commit suicide on the part of the petitioner…”, the petition read. It was further contended in the petition, “Moreover, for the provisions of section 306 to be attached, the direct involvement of of the accused in the abetment or suicide is necessary. In the present case, the petitioner did not have any direct involvement with the abetment. Merely because a person has been named in the suicide note, one cannot jump to the conclusion that he is an offender under section 306 of the IPC”.
Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami arrested
Continuing their witch-hunt against Republic TV chief, the Mumbai Police on Wednesday arrested Arnab Goswami. The Mumbai Police reached Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami’s residence on Wednesday and physically manhandled him as they tried to detain him in a 2018 abetment to suicide case that was already closed.
A team of Mumbai Police arrested Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami after they physically assaulted and dragged him by grabbing his hair. In a shocking act, a large contingent of Mumbai Police was seen present at Goswami’s residence on Wednesday morning. In the below video, it can be seen how officials of the Mumbai Police were manhandling the Republic TV chief.
Mumbai Police carried AK-47 to arrest Arnab Goswami
In a shocking display of the might of the state, the Mumbai Police not only assaulted and dragged Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami before making the arrest but also physically assaulted his minor son and other family members.
Speaking to the media soon after the arrest, Arnab Goswami said that Mumbai Police assaulted his wife, minor son at his residence. Reportedly, Arnab Goswami’s elderly father-in-law and mother-in-law were also assaulted by the Mumbai Police.
#IndiaWithArnab | ‘They beat my son,’ Arnab Goswami manages to say through the van’s window after SHOCKING assault by Mumbai Police at his house; Fire in your support for #ArnabGoswami; Send in your videos; Join us now, #LIVE here – https://t.co/jghcajZuXf pic.twitter.com/JAyCe2iHh5
— Republic (@republic) November 4, 2020
According to Republic Media Network’s Niranjan Narayanaswamy, at least 10 Mumbai Police personnel armed with assault weapons such as AK-47 barged into Arnab Goswami’s residence on Wednesday to arrest him in a 2018 case which was closed after court’s order. He added that more than 30 Mumbai Police personnel armed with weapons arrested and dragged him to Raigad police station in connection with the case.
Mumbai police file FIR against Arnab Goswami’s wife, son and in-laws
After lodging an FIR against Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami for allegedly assaulting a female Mumbai police cop at his residence when she along with 30-40 other cops barged into his house to arrest him, the Mumbai police had registered FIRs against his wife, son and two others for allegedly assaulting cops.
The Police has booked Arnab Goswami’s wife and his son for allegedly obstructing the Police officers from performing their duty, under Section 353 of IPC. The FIR also names two unknown persons, a man and a woman, for the same offences, but have not named them.
The police also claim that Arnab Goswami’s wife had tore the intimation regarding Goswami’s arrest. It is pertinent to note that Goswami’s 20-year old son was manhandled by cops at his residence as they were dragging him out of his house.