Kishan Reddy Condemns Arnab Goswami’s Arrest

The Republic TV's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami was arrested today in a two-year-old suicide case in which investigations were reopened recently. He was arrested for allegedly abetting the suicide of a 53-year-old interior designer, Anvay Naik, and his mother, in 2018. The designer had reportedly named Arnab Goswami in a suicide note and had accused Republic TV of not paying him his dues.

In May, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh had announced that the suicide was being reinvestigated after a fresh complaint by Adnya Naik, the designer's daughter. Deshmukh had claimed that Adnya believed the Alibaug police had not investigated Republic's properly for non-payment of dues, which, she claimed, drove her father and grandmother to suicide in May 2018.

The arrest comes in the middle of Mr Goswami's row with the Mumbai Police over its investigations into a ratings scam and allegations that Republic TV is among three channels involved in manipulating TRPs or Television Rating Points by bribing households metred for viewership. The editor had accused the police of harassing his colleagues and pursuing a vendetta over his channel's criticism of Mumbai Police's handling of the Sushant Singh Rajput case.

Meanwhile, G Kishan Reddy, Union Minister of State (MoS) for Home Affairs, condemned the arrest of Arnab Goswami. “The assault and undemocratic arrest of Arnab Goswami is a blatant violation and open disregard to each of the constitutional principles & values that guarantee Article 19 Rights. This is sheer abuse of power and attack on the Freedom of Press in Maharashtra,” tweeted he.

Home Minister Amit Shah stated, "Congress and its allies have shamed democracy once again. Blatant misuse of state power against Republic TV and Arnab Goswami is an attack on individual freedom and the 4th pillar of democracy. It reminds us of the Emergency. This attack on free press must be and WILL BE OPPOSED."

"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," posted Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar.