Fresh trouble for Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami: Police complaints lodged for ‘prior information’ on Balakot

In what could spell fresh trouble for Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami, already facing legal heat in the TRP scam case and an abetment to suicide case, written complaints have been submitted against him at Samta Nagar police station in Kandivali and Nirmal Nagar police station in Bandra east in Mumbai.

The complaints sought registration of an FIR against Goswami over purported WhatsApp chats between him and former BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta which allegedly disclosed that Goswami had prior knowledge of the 2019 airstrike carried out by the Indian Air Force in Balakot, as per media reports.

Congress leader Sachin Sawant who submitted a complaint at Samta Nagar police station later tweeted, “Officially Filed complaint at Kandivali’s Samtanagar police stn with ACP Mohite & Senior PI Hake against Arnab Goswami demanding his immediate arrest for breaching Section 5 of OSA & investigate. It needs to be known as to Who gave him info regarding Balakot strike?”

An officer from the Samta Nagar police station confirmed receipt of the complaint, as per a report carried by The Indian Express.

The Nirmal Nagar complaint was lodged by Congress MLA Zeeshan Siddique.

The chats between Dasgupta and Goswami are part of the chargesheet submitted by the Mumbai Police in connection with the TRP case in which Dasgupta, currently behind bars, along with 14 others have been charged.

In the viral WhatsApp chat, Arnab Goswami seems to have predicted the airstrikes three days before the Indian Air Force carried it out.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had recently launched a scathing attack on the Modi govt saying that the alleged sharing of information on the airstrikes with Arnab Goswami was a criminal act. In a special press conference, Gandhi had said that if Arnab Goswami knew about the airstrikes in advance, then he had no doubt that Pakistan too was aware of India’s military operations.