Published 17:08 IST, November 4th 2020
Arnab Goswami arrested: MoS RK Singh condemns 'Blatant misuse of power by Maha govt'
Union Minister of State RK Singh condemned the act of Maharashtra Government and called it an attack on the freedom of the press and the essence of Democracy
Following the blatant abuse of power by Maharashtra government on Wednesday when Mumbai Police arrested Republic Media Network's editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami, Union Minister of State RK Singh has condemned the act of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Government and called it an attack on freedom of press and the essence of the democracy.
Mumbai Police arrests Arnab
This outrage against Mumbai Police and Maharashtra Government has come after Arnab was assaulted at his house by Mumbai Police, then dragged and shoved inside the police van to be taken to Alibaug Police Station in a case that was closed in April 2019. Arnab was not even allowed to arrange for his legal and medical assistance. While the Mumbai Police was in full display of abuse of power, Republic's executive editor Niranjan Narayanswamy and senior associate editor Sanjay Pathak tried to enter Arnab's residence to report from the site but were thrown out by the Police.
From Union Home Minister Amit Shah to Union Ministers Smriti Irani, Ravi Shankar Prasad and S Jaishankar have criticised the attack on freedom of media. The Indian Federation of Working Journalists (IFWJ) has also condemned the assault and arrest and asked the government to 'desist from the witch-hunting of Arnab Goswami and Republic'. The IFWJ slammed the Mumbai Police for its inhuman treatment towards the Editor in Chief of Republic even after the news organisation and all its employees had cooperated in all of the prior investigations.
Shocking video of Arnab being dragged out of his residence
Mumbai Police witchhunt
The Mumbai Police has been planting cases after cases on Republic and Arnab Goswami. Mumbai Police Commissioner Param Bir Singh in his latest news plant called Arnab "the biggest hawala operator in the city of Mumbai." Republic Media Network's management & editorial staff have gone through more than 150 hours of questioning in a variety of cases that are beyond the initial falsely implanted 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 had filed an FIR on the entire editorial team of the Network invoking a 1922 British Raj-era law that had last been used in the Emergency-era. This abuse of force and power by the Mumbai Police and the Maharashtra Government comes in retaliation to Republic's relentless pursuit of Palghar Sadhus lynching, Sushant Singh Rajput case and the Bollywood Drug nexus. The Police has also detained the protestors who backed Arnab and staged demonstrations outside Mantralaya in Mumbai.
Updated 17:08 IST, November 4th 2020