The Alibaug Police on Wednesday arrested Editor-in-Chief of Republic Media Network Arnab Goswami for abetment to suicide in a 2018 case. He was charged under Section 306 and Section 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The case concerns the death of Anvay Naik, managing director of Concorde Designs Private Limited, in 2018. A suicide note by Naik accused Goswami and two others – Feroz Shaikh and Neetish Sarda of not paying dues worth Rs 5.40 crore has now gone viral. Naik and his mother Kumud Naik were found dead in their home in Kavir village of Alibaug. Following the arrest of Arnab in the Naik suicide case the Congress has criticized BJP leader and former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis over the issue.
Alleging that the Fadnavis government conveniently ignored the issue, opposition leader Sachin Sawant posted a letter written by Anvay Naik before his suicide. In a photo posted by Sawant, Arnab Goswami along with Feroz Sheikh of iCast Slashsky Media and Nitesh Sarda of 'Smart Works' in Magarpatta are mentioned in the suicide note, all three of whom should be held responsible for our deaths. Even as the Maharashtra government defended the arrest of Republic TV Managing Director and Chief Editor Arnab Goswami here on Wednesday, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party organised vociferous protests across the state to condemn the action. On the other hand, adopting an aggressive stance, the BJP’s Leader of Opposition (Council) Pravin Darekar and party Vice-President Kirit Somaiya rushed to Raigad this morning and organised a protest demonstration outside the Alibaug police station where Goswami was lodged amid tight security. They carried banners, posters and raised slogans condemning the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government for running a “vendetta campaign against a journalist who had exposed” the state regime boldly”.