Arnab Goswami arrested in Alibaug suicide case: Name mentioned in suicide note

Arnab Goswami, owner and editor-in-chief of Republic TV, was arrested on Wednesday morning. The arrest was made in connection with a 2018 suicide case by the Maharashtra police and taken to Raigad. “Arnab Goswami is currently being taken to Raigad. He shall be interrogated by the investigating officer and the further course of action will be decided accordingly,” Sanjay Mohite, IG Konkan Range said.

2018 suicide case insights

Anvay Naik, an interior designer, and his mother Kumud Naik, were found dead at their bungalow in May 2018. According to the post mortem reports, while Anvay Naik was found to have committed suicide, his mother had been strangulated.

It is believed that her son had killed her before taking his life. While Anvay was found hanging on the first floor, his mother was found on the ground floor by the bungalow’s caretaker.

The connection between the case & Arnab Goswami

A suicide note has come to light which was written in English. In the note, Anvay had clearly stated that he and his mother decided to take this step due to their payments not being cleared by owners of the companies. Arnab Goswami is among the list which also mentions the names of Neetesh Sarda of Smartworks and Feroz Shaikh of IcasX/Skimedia. All these companies owed Naik, Rs 83 Lakh, Rs 55 Lakh and Rs 4 crores, respectively.

Why Now?

In May 2020, Adnya Naik, Anvay’s daughter, approached Anil Deshmukh, Maharashtra Home Minister, requesting for the case to be reopened. He tweeted in May, “Adnya Naik had complained to me that Alibaug Police had not investigated non-payment of dues from Arnab Goswami’s public which drover her entrepreneur father and grandma to suicide in May 2018. I’ve ordered a CID re-investigation of the case.”

The CID will now be questioning Goswami and ask him to provide evidence to back his claims that he had made the payments due to Anvay. Depending on the investigation, they will decide to either close the case or charge sheet him.

Other cases against Arnab Goswami

Republic TV has been named in the TRP scam where the channel along with five others was allegedly involved in making payments for boosting TRPs. It has denied the accusation. An FIR has been registered against Goswami for ‘incitement to disaffection’ over a show in which the channel said that several officers in Mumbai police were against the action of commissioner Param Bir Singh. Apart from this, two FIRs were registered against Goswami for allegedly communalizing incidents like the gathering of migrants outside Bandra railway station and the lynching of Sadhus in Palghar. Following these two FIRs, chapter proceedings too had been initiated against Goswami and he was asked to sign a bond of good behaviour. Goswami had approached the Supreme Court against these FIRs and was asked to approach the Bombay High Court that is currently hearing the matter. He was also issued a show cause notice by the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly for initiation of breach of privilege motion against him for reportage related to the case of actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. Goswami challenged this in the Supreme Court as well.