On Twitter, several people connected to a social media post from a political party that showed Arnab hanging upside down and beaten by the Mumbai Police, who had accompanied the Alibaug police team. What added fuel to the fire was the accusation by Goswami and Republic TV that he was attacked and mistreated by the police. However, the image that was distributed turned out to be incorrect. So did Goswami’s accusation of being mistreated by the police.
Read a more detailed account on fake images here
A video from the Mumbai police, which begins with a police team trying to enter Goswami’s home and ends with his arrest, shows the great drama that took place on Wednesday morning and puts a question mark on their accusations of police brutality.
07:48See: Arnab Goswami, Editor-in-Chief of Republic TV, Arrested in Mumbai
This is probably the first time that a police team has faced such resistance to arrest a defendant who is not a hardened criminal. The police, it seems, were prepared for what happened. The FIR registered against Goswami, his wife, their son and two unknown persons at the NM Joshi Marg Police Station, for preventing public officials from fulfilling their duty, mentions that a Naik from the Raigad police had been instructed to search procedures straight from the start.
The Raigad police team (the district where Alibaug is located), led by Deputy Superintendent Pravin Patil, arrived at Goswami’s home around 7 a.m., but managed to enter only an hour later, as those who were inside they refused to open the door after the police officers identified themselves.
The video shows that the moment Goswami opened the door and Patil asked him to come out, he began to close the door on them. It was then that Patil tried to grab Goswami, what he and his wife repeatedly called “physical assault.” An officer could be heard saying that the team was there with “legal capacity” and that the process could not be carried out inside the house.
Possibly due to her media experience, Goswami’s wife also began recording a video on her mobile phone. Goswami could be heard asking the police team to “maintain social distancing.” As Patil tried to explain to him that he was being arrested for a case registered at the Alibaug Police Station, a uniformed officer asked Goswami’s wife to acknowledge the arrest in writing.
Patil repeatedly and courteously identified himself and asked if he was willing to cooperate with the police, saying that he was being arrested and taken to Alibaug. Goswami, however, continued to shout “I have been physically assaulted”, which his wife repeated. He then asked the police team to wait outside. At one point, Goswami could be heard raising his voice to the police team, saying that he is the editor in chief of Republic TV and that the police team cannot physically assault him in his own home.
Simultaneously, the female officer was seen asking Goswami’s wife to sign the arrest document, but he yelled and asked her not to sign any papers, saying that the police “forced her to sign documents.” He and his wife yelled the word “alive” and “everything is alive” numerous times during the process. At one point, his wife was heard saying that they didn’t even know if the officers were legitimate.
A few minutes later, the deputy inspector Sachin waze from the Criminal Intelligence Unit of the Mumbai Police entered and asked Goswami to cooperate. Goswami in response claimed that Waze also assaulted him, although he was not there all this time. After repeatedly asking him to cooperate and accompany them, the police finally managed to arrest him after 13 minutes.
Goswami, his wife, their son and two unknown persons have been booked for this episode under Sections 353 (preventing public servants from carrying out their duties), 504 (intentionally insulting someone) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
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