CID to reinvestigate abetment to suicide case against Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami

Editor-in-Chief of Republic TV Arnab Goswami, who is facing police investigation relating to his channel’s coverage of the Palghar mob lynching and Bandra migrants’ protest cases, will now face another investigation in a two-year old suicide case.

Although the case had been closed by Raigad police last year, it will be reinvestigated by the CID after Maharashtra’s home minister and senior NCP leader Anil Deshmukh ordered reinvestigation of the case.

Deshmukh said the CID will re-investigate the case based on a request by the daughter of Anvay Naik, who along with his mother Kumud Naik was found dead at their bungalow in Alibaug, in Raigad district near Mumbai, in May 2018.

“Adnya Naik had complained to me that Alibaug Police had not investigated non-payment of dues from Arnab Goswami’s Republic TV, which drove her entrepreneur father and grandma to suicide in May 2018. I’ve ordered a CID re-investigation of the case,” tweeted Deshmukh.

According to media reports, the Raigad police had closed the case last year stating that enough evidence was not found against Goswami and two others to charge-sheet them in the case.

Anvay, managing director of Concorde Designs, allegedly committed suicide due to the non-payment of the dues. However, Republic TV had earlier claimed that it had cleared all payments due to Concorde Designs. Anvay and his mother was on the firm’s board of directors.

Anvay’s daughter Adnya had alleged that the Raigad police had not investigated the fact that Rs 83 lakh was not paid to her father by Goswami. According to Adnya, her father committed suicide due to the non-payment of this money.

The police had found a suicide note in English which purportedly stated that Anvay and his mother decided to take the extreme step since payments due to them were not being cleared by owners of three companies — Republic TV, Feroz Shaikh of IcastX/Skimedia, and Niteish Sarda of Smartworks.

The three firms owed Concorde Designs Rs 83 lakh, Rs 4 crore and Rs 55 lakh respectively, the note had stated.

The Raigad police claimed that after the investigation it was found that Anvay was in heavy debt and was struggling to repay money to contractors.

Raigad Superintendent of Police Anil Paraskar said, “We had registered a case of abetment to suicide against three persons when the bodies were found based…. However, last April we submitted a summary report before a court stating that there was not enough evidence to file a chargesheet against the accused.”

The police suspect that Anvay may have killed his mother and then committed suicide. While Kumud’s body was found on the ground-floor sofa, Anvay was found hanging on the first floor by the bungalow’s caretaker.