Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami has alleged that he suffered a 6-inch-deep gash on his left hand, a serious injury to his spinal cord and was hit by a heavy uniform police officer’s boot as he filed filed for bail before the Bombay High Court along with his Habeas Corpus plea challenging his arrest on November 4.
Goswami has sought immediate release from the illegal detention and wrongful custody by the Maharashtra Police, Bar and Bench reported.
“During the course of his arrest and while being transferred to Alibaug in a police van and in the custody of the police, the Petitioner suffered a 6-inch-deep gash on his left hand, a serious injury to his spinal cord, was hit by a heavy uniform police officer’s boot, was not allowed to wear shoes throughout, suffered vein injuries and was not even given access to drinking water.
Additionally, the Petitioner was also forced to consume certain liquid by the police officers guarding him and choked as a result thereof,” according to Arnab’s bail application.
The pke claimed that Arnab was not allowed to wear shoes, suffered vein injuries due to manhandling by cops and was not even given access to drinking water.
The petitioner was also forced to consume certain liquid by the police officers guarding him and choked as a result thereof, the plea alleged.
1) Arnab suffered a 6-inch-deep gash on his left hand
2) Serious injury to his spinal cord
3) Hit by a heavy uniform police officer’s boot
4) Not allowed to wear shoes
5) Suffered vein injuries
6) Not even given access to drinking water#BombayHighCourt #BombayHC #Arnab pic.twitter.com/OLfEFvtb8W— Bar & Bench (@barandbench) November 7, 2020
Earlier on Friday, the Bombay High Court refused to pass any orders granting him interim bail. The court said it would consider passing appropriate orders in the matter on Saturday after hearing all the parties, including the Maharashtra police and also the complainant Naik family.
Arnab has petitioned the bench seeking to quash the FIR registered against him in a 2018 case, wherein he is arraigned as an accused for abetting the suicide of an architect Anvay Naik.
Arnab was arrested by the Maharashtra Police on November 4 in an abetment of suicide case. Anvay Naik, along with his mother Kumud Naik, had committed suicide at their bungalow in Alibaug, Raigad, on May 5, 2018. Adnya Naik, daughter of Anvay Naik, has sought a reinvestigation into the case or transferring it to an independent agency.
Goswami was nabbed from his Worli residence in a dramatic operation by the Mumbai Police and Raigad police on November 4 morning and whisked off to Raigad.
Late that night, he was sent to judicial custody for 14 days by Alibaug Court Chief Judicial Magistrate Sunaina Pingle, who observed that the arrest appeared to be illegal.
Two other accused in the same case — Feroze Shaikh and Nitesh Sarda — were also sent to judicial custody. They, along with Goswami, had allegedly defaulted on payments which reportedly led to the double suicide of the Naik mother-son duo, and have challenged their arrest.
The police have challenged the Alibaug court orders, while Goswami has challenged the police action and the FIR against him in the double-suicide case, before the Bombay HC.
Based on a complaint by Akshata Naik, the widow of late architect, the Alibaug police had registered the FIR in 2018 after her husband (Anvay) and mother-in-law (Kumud Naik) committed suicide on May 5 that year.
In a suicide note, Anvay Naik had named three persons – Republic TV’s Goswami for defaulting on a payment of Rs 83 lakh, Shaikh of IcastX/Skimedia of Rs 4 crore and Sarda of Smartworks for not paying Rs 55 lakh.
Source: Republic World
