Indian police arrest radical Arnab Goswami

Police in Mumbai, Maharashtra arrested radical Republic TV journalist Arnab Goswami in connection with a suicide and mruder of an architect and his mother back in 2018.

Mumbai police said that the arrest relates to the linkages of the anchor with the detah of interior designer Anvay Naik and his mother, which police determined to be suicide.

His channel showed a video of Goswami being forced into a police van by the officers outside his residence in Mumbai, the Indian media reported. Meanwhile, party members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party were quick to condemn Goswami’s arrest.Modi and his party have had covert support from Goswami in the last few years as he can be seen rallying the RSS-BJP cries on his TV channel.

“Blatant misuse of state power against Republic TV and Arnab Goswami is an attack on individual freedom and the fourth pillar of democracy,” tweeted India’s powerful Home Minister Amit Shah.

“This attack on free press must be and will be opposed,” he added further.

Meanwhile, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said the arrest was nothing but a fascit move in an undeclared emergency. “We must all stand up against this attack on India’s democracy,” said Goyal.

Another ruling party minister Smriti Irani, said that, “you may not like him, you may not approve of him, you may despise his very existence but if you stay silent you support suppression.”

The state of Maharashtra and Republic’s Goswami have been trading barbs over various matters in the last few months ever since Sushant Singh Rajput’s death took over the prime time on Indian news channels.

Earlier, in October, the 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.

Over the last few months, Goswami has run a wall-to-wall coverage against the Mumbai police and accused them of mishandling an investigation into the death of Sushant Singh Rajput, a popular actor.