Mumbai Police arrest India’s renowned journalist Arnab Goswami

Gulf Today Report

The Maharashtra Police’s Raigad unit raided the home of Arnab Goswami, one of India's top news anchors, and arrested him on Wednesday.

The Republic TV owner and its Chief Editor was arrested in an abetment to suicide case of 2018. The case was reopened recently, which had been closed earlier.

In 2018, an architect and his mother died by suicide over alleged non-payment of dues by Goswami’s Republic TV, the official said.

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Mumbai Police swooped on the Chief Editor and picked him up from his home even as his family protested while his colleagues started rushing to the spot for live coverage.

Goswami is known aggressively backing up Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his nationalist policies during his nightly shows, often shouting down opponents.

Critics have accused Republic TV of pandering to Modi’s agenda at a time when other media channels say press freedom is under threat.

Last month, Mumbai Police also accused Republic TV of rigging the rating system, a major factor in what a channel can charge advertisers. Goswami and his channel have denied the charges.

Republic TV says that Republic TV owner has been targeted over his journalism.

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted, “Although emergency was defeated in 1977, the mentality is still alive. Today, the supporters of emergency-Congress and Shiv Sena are displaying the same undemocratic brutality to crush any voice of dissent.”

“Those in the free press who don’t stand up today in support of Arnab, you are now tactically in support of fascism,” Union Minister Smriti Irani tweeted.

Union Minister for Information and Broadcast Prakash 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.”