New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday hit out at the Congress and its allies in Maharashtra for “misuse of state power” against Republic TV and its editor Arnab Goswami.
The Home Minister’s remarks came after Goswami’s arrest by the Maharashtra Police.
“Congress and its allies have shamed democracy once again. Blatant misuse of state power against Republic TV and Arnab Goswami is an attack on individual freedom and the 4th pillar of democracy,” Shah tweeted.
The Minister further said it reminds us of “the emergency” imposed durimng Congress rule at the Centre. “This attack on free press must be and will be opposed.”
The Maharashtra Police’s Raigad unit on Wednesday morning raided the residence of the Republic TV owner and arrested its Chief Editor Arnab Goswami in an abetment to suicide case.
A senior police official said that Goswami was arrested in the abetment to suicide case of 2018, which had been closed earlier and has now been reopened.
A police team swooped down on the Republic TV’s chief and picked him up from his home even as his family protested while his colleagues started rushing to the spot for live coverage.
The channel strongly slammed the move for “parading the editor of a top Indian news channel like a criminal, pulled by the hair, threatened, not allowed to drink water”, after 20-30 policemen barged in and arrested Goswami.
Speaking from one of the vehicles, Goswami said he was assaulted, even as his shaken colleagues made direct emotional appeals to Supreme Court and High Court judges “seeking justice” for what was happening right in the middle of Mumbai, in a telecast of the developments.
Goswami managed to speak from a police van that he was assaulted, his son was beaten and his in-laws were pushed aside, and he was likely to be taken to Alibaug in Raigad.