Arnab Goswami spends night at school designated as COVID-19 centre in Alibag

Mumbai, Nov 05: Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami arrested in connection with a 2018 abetment of suicide case spent the night at a local school in Alibag which was designated as a COVID-19 centre for the Alibag prison.

Officials said that this was to complete his quarantine period before being sent to the main prison. A court had on Wednesday remanded Goswami and two other accused in judicial custody till November 18.

He was arrested from home in Mumbai on Wednesday, following which he was taken to Alibag. After the medical exam, he was taken to the Alibag Nagar Parishad School where he spent the night.

The court dismissed Goswami's complaint that he was assaulted. Goswami and the two others were booked under Sections 306 (abetment of suicide) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC in connection with the suicide of architect-interior designer Anvay Naik and Naik's mother over alleged non-payment of dues by Republic TV.

The other two arrested accused in the case, Feroze Mohammed Shaikh and Nitesh Sarda, were also produced in the Alibaug court on Wednesday and remanded to judicial custody till November 18.

Naik, in his purported suicide note, had mentioned the names of Goswami, Shaikh and Sarda, police said, adding the note was sent to handwriting experts in Pune and a report is awaited.

Hearing on Goswami's bail application will be held on Thursday at Alibaug court, an official said.

Goswami had on November 2 filed a petition in the Bombay High Court seeking to quash the FIR in the case. It will be heard by a division bench of Justices SS Shinde and MS Karnik on Thursday.

A team of Raigad police picked up Goswami (47) from his Lower Parel house in Mumbai on Wednesday morning. He was seen being pushed into the police van, and claimed that he was assaulted by police before being taken away.

Goswami was produced in a court in Alibaug, around 90 km from Mumbai, and was remanded to judicial custody till November 18. The court ruling came shortly after 11 pm.

Mumbai police have registered an FIR against Goswami, his wife, son and two others for "obstructing, assaulting, verbally abusing and intimidating" a police officer on duty and for tearing up "government papers" (arrest intimation) at his house, the official said.

The FIR was registered at the NM Joshi Marg police station on Wednesday under Sections 353, 504, 506 of IPC and Section 3 of the Damage of Public Property Act, the official said.