Arnab Goswami appears for questioning; hits out at Mumbai Police

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, June 10

Television anchor and Editor of the Republic Television network Arnab Goswami appeared before the Mumbai police on Wednesday afternoon in connection with a police complaint accusing him of trying to create hatred between two communities.

Apart from Goswami the police also summoned S Sundaram, the Chief Financial Officer of the television network for questioning.

While Sundaram was called in the morning, Goswami was asked to report before the N M Joshi Marg police station at 2 pm.

At around 4 pm Goswami appeared before journalists waiting outside the police station and hit out at the Maharashtra government for delaying his interrogation.

“I am waiting here for the past one and a half to two hours. I … told the police to start my interrogation. My sources say senior police officers have been given orders that I should be stopped and delayed….. I guess they don’t want me to conduct the Poochta Hai Bharat and the debate on Republic TV,” Goswami told reporters.

The television anchor alleged that the CFO of his television network was being questioned for five hours and was not allowed to have lunch.

“I want to know the reason for why I am being obstructed from carrying out my professional duty. I want to know the reasons why Mumbai Police want to stop me from doing my programme,” Goswami said.

On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court refused to exempt Goswami from appearing before the city police.

Two First Information Reports (FIRs) have been registered against Goswami in Nagpur and Mumbai for allegedly making provocative comments against the Muslim community during a show on the gathering of migrant workers outside the Bandra railway terminus during the countrywide lockdown.

One of the complainants in the case, Irfan Abubakar Shaikh, secretary, Raza Education Welfare Society alleged that Goswami had targetted the mosque outside Bandra railway station even though it had no links to the migrant workers who were protesting to be sent home by train.

Shaikh had alleged that Goswami intended to blame the Muslim community for the spread of the Covid-19 virus in Mumbai.

The FIR has been registered under Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, and language), 295A (deliberate and malicious intention of outraging the religious feelings of any citizen) 500 (defamation), 505 (2) (spreading rumour or alarming news with intent to create or promote feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities), and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).