The Maharashtra Police's Raigad unit on Wednesday morning raided the residence of Republic TV owner and arrested its Chief Editor Arnab Goswami in an abetment to suicide case.
A senior police officer Sachin Vaze said that Goswami was arrested in the abetment to suicide case of 2018, which had been closed earlier and has now been reopened.
A police team swooped on the Republic TV's chief and picked him up from his home even as his family protested while his colleagues started rushing to the spot for live coverage.
The channel strongly slammed the move for "parading the editor of a top Indian news channel like a criminal, pulled by the hair, threatened, not allowed to drink water" after 20-30 policemen barged there.
2018 suicide case of Anvay Naik and his mother Kumud Naik
- Anway Naik and his mother Kumud Naik committed suicide under suspicious circumstances in May 2018 and an offence was registered by the Alibaug Police Station in Raigad.
- Anvay Naik was managing director of Concorde Designs Private Limited.
- A suicide note by Naik accused Arnab Goswami and two others – Feroz Shaikh and Neetish Sarda – of not paying dues worth Rs 5.40 crore
- Naik's daughter Aadnya had written to Deshmukh complaining that the investigations were not conducted in a proper manner by the police, following which the Home Department ordered a re-probe by the CID in May 2020.
In May 2018, Arnab Goswami, along with Feroz Shaikh and Niteish Sarda were booked by Raigad Police for abetment of suicide of Anvay Naik and his mother. Anvay Naik was the Managing Director of Concorde Designs Private Limited, an interior designing company and he claimed in his suicide note that the 3 individuals including Arnab Goswami had not paid him dues of Rs. 5.4 crore. It was also reported that Goswami owed him Rs. 83 lakh for designing the studio of Republic TV in Mumbai.