Published 09:18 IST, November 4th 2020
'It's Emergency!!': Netizens outraged as Arnab Goswami assaulted & arrested by police
Netizens asked if it was not Emergency and termed it 'shame' as Arnab Goswami was assaulted & arrested by Mumbai Police in shocking scenes early on Wednesday.
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In a shocking development in the Mumbai Police’s witch-hunt against Republic Media Network, officials landed at Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami’s residence on Wednesday. Not only did the officials barge into his residence, without any documents, they also assaulted him. Netizens expressed their shock and anger over the visuals that surfaced and asked if this was not ‘Emergency'.
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Netizens condemn Mumbai Police’s assault on Arnab Goswami
Twitter users asked if we were living in a ‘democratic country’ and asked Mumbai Police to ‘have shame’ and called it ‘Gunda raj.’ They expressed that it was a ‘death of democracy’ and sought the resignation of Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh. They also tagged the Prime Minister & Home Minister to raise their voice for action.
Here are some reactions:
In the latest development, Mumbai Police have taken Arnab Goswami to the Raigad police station in a van with numerous vehicles. He was also pushed into another van with force. This was after he was pulled by the hair, and not even allowed to drink a glass of water, at his residence.
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"They physically assaulted me. They did not allow me to meet my in-laws. They beat up my son," Arnab Goswami said from the van.
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The officials also stopped the journalists who had been following the police vehicles.
‘Encounter specialist’ API Sachin Vaze stated that Arnab was arrested by the Alibaug police under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code in a 2018 abetment to suicide. He stated that the 'case was opened' when told that the case had been closed.
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Mumbai Police witch-hunt on Republic
This comes after the Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh in his latest fake news plant called Arnab "the biggest hawala operator in the city of Mumbai." Tearing apart the Mumbai Police's ridiculous claim Arnab Goswami stressed that the network sustains only on the blessings of the viewers. Speaking on 'The Debate' on Tuesday, he brought to the viewers' attention a piece of paper that is framed in his office. Mentioning that it showed the first week of television ratings when Republic TV was launched, he recalled that the channel topped the ranking charts then itself.
In total, Republic Media Network's management & editorial staff have endured over 150 hours of questioning in a variety of cases that are beyond the initial fraud TRP matter, including Republic’s Senior Associate Editor Shawan Sen, Executive Editor Niranjan Narayanaswamy Output Editor Sagarika Mitra, Senior Associate Editor Shivani Gupta. The journalists maintained that they won’t reveal their sources.
The Param Bir Singh-led Mumbai Police's brazen attempt to strike on press freedom has been exposed through the multiple sessions of unnecessary interrogation sessions. Taking it a step further, in a never-seen-before move, the Param Bir Singh-led Mumbai Police filed an FIR against the entire editorial team of the Network, invoking a 1922 British Raj-era law that had last been used in the Emergency-era.
09:18 IST, November 4th 2020