Arnab Goswami: Backlash after police arrest India's most controversial TV news anchor

Firebrand right-wing anchor has previously clashed with state government led by anti-Modi parties

India’s most controversial news anchor Arnab Goswami, known for lending his aggressive support to the Modi government, was arrested by Mumbai police early on Wednesday morning in relation to a two-year-old case of abetment to suicide.

Senior Mumbai police officer Sanjay Mohite told Reuters that the charges against the founder of conservative channel Republic TV were linked to the deaths of interior designer Anvay Naik and his mother, which police determined to be suicide. 

A suicide note found by the police and determined to have been written by Naik allegedly named Goswami, saying the anchor and two others owed him a large sum of money and had refused to pay it back.

Goswami has denied the allegations and his channel issued a statement calling his arrest a "black day for India's democracy”. Republic TV claimed Goswami was physically assaulted by the police during his arrest, and aired a video of him being forced into a police van by officers outside his residence in Mumbai.

Multiple senior leaders of Narendra Modi's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were quick to come out in support of the journalist.

India’s home minister and long-time ally of Mr Modi, Amit Shah, tweeted: “This attack on free press must be and WILL BE OPPOSED.”

The minister for information and broadcasting, Prakash Javadekar, condemned the arrest calling it an attack on press freedom in Maharashtra, and said it "reminds us of the Emergency" (under Indira Gandhi in the 1980s).

The railways minister Piyush Goyal called Goswami’s arrest a "fascist move" and "a sign of an undeclared emergency."

And another senior figure from the ruling party, Smriti Irani, tweeted: "You may not like him, you may not approve of him, you may despise his very existence but if you stay silent you support suppression."

This arrest comes at a time when freedom of the press is a matter of mounting concern in India, with critics alleging that the Modi government systematically curbs independent voices. Senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan called out what he characterised as the hypocrisy of senior ministers who tweeted in support of Goswami but remained silent on previous attacks against other journalists.

Goswami is best known for his vocal support towards the ruling party and coverage pandering to hardline Hindu nationalist fringe groups. 

On his daily prime time show on Republic TV, Goswami frequently invites on opponents and critics of the government before shouting them down. 

Goswami recently took a swipe at the family of the chief minister of Maharashtra state, Uddhav Thackeray, in relation to the death of the Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput. Republic TV painted the case as a murder mystery involving the political class, claims which still remain unproven. Police have said Rajput’s death appeared to be suicide.

Goswami has previously been charged with two cases of inciting hatred between religious groups, while Republic TV was named in a recent scandal where a number of channels were accused of rigging their viewer ratings. A legal battle over the latter is ongoing.