The state home department has strongly justified the arrest of Republican TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami for allegedly abetting the suicide of a 53-year-old interior designer in 2018.
The department hinted that Raigad Police had acted based on evidence, especially the suicide note written by interior designer Anvay Naik. Barely hours after Goswami’s arrest, Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said, “Nobody is above the law and Maharashtra Police will take appropriate action as per law. The case was reopened after the interior designer’s wife approached a court seeking permission for it. The court then gave permission to reopen the case.’’
A home department official told The Free Press Journal, “Deshmukh had, in May, ordered a re-investigation into the alleged death by suicide of 53-year-old interior designer Anvay Naik and his mother Kumud Naik. An FIR was registered by Alibaug Police against the three, including Goswami, but the case was closed by Raigad Police during the tenure of BJP government in 2019.
After Deshmukh’s order, Raigad Police obtained an order from the court on October 15, saying that based on fresh evidence, they wanted to reopen the case. After the court gave its consent, Raigad Police, with the help of Mumbai Police today (Wednesday) arrested Goswami, Firoz Sheikh, and Nitesh Sarda and took them to Alibaug.
Following Deshmukh’s directive, a special team of Raigad Police had visited Naik’s office in Mumbai to verify the financial transactions reported in the suicide note. The officer said that no summons were issued to the trio as Raigad Police had argued that they had sufficient evidence for direct arrest.
Naik’s company, Concorde Designs Pvt Ltd, had received a contract from Republic TV, Sky Media promoted by Feroz Sheikh and Smart Works Company of Nitesh Sarda.
The Free Press Journal has a copy of Naik’s suicide note, in which he had said: “We are committing suicide due to following: Our (Concorde designs Pvt ltd) we both directors 1) Mr Anvay M. Naik & 2) Kumud M. Naik, money is stuck & following owners of respected companies are not paying our legitimate dues.
1. Mr. Arnab Goswami - ARG Outlier of Republic TV has not paid 83 Lacs for Bombay dyeing studio project.
2. Feroz Sheikh - IcastX/Skimedia not paid our 400 Lacs in Laxmi, 3rd & 4th Floor Idea Square project in Andheri.
3. Mr. Nitesh Sarda - owner of Smart Works - Majarpatta & baner project. (55 lacs pending)Kindly collect money from them & held them responsible for our death & pay to creditors."
Referring to this suicide note and the three names mentioned in it, Anvay Naik’s wife Akshata and daughter Adnya claimed that Aibaug Police filed 'A Summary’, citing that there was not enough evidence to pursue the investigation. The duo thanked Maharashtra Police on Wednesday, for taking action in the case and hoped for a fair investigation.
