The Alibaug police have registered an FIR against three people including Republic TV founder, Arnab Goswami, Feroz Shaikh of IcastX and Nitesh Sarda of Smartworks. All of them are facing charges under Section 306 (abetting suicide) of IPC after a complained filed by the deceased interior decorator, Anvay Naik’s wife.
According to Police, the victim Anvay Naik committed suicide by hanging himself at his bungalow in Raigad district. His mother, Kumud, was also found dead near him but the cause of her death is not known yet. Naik’s wife, Akshata Naik, has alleged that her husband Anvay was under financial stress and committed suicide because his dues were not paid by the Republic TV.
According to Additional Superintendent of Police (Raigad) Sanjay Patil, “An FIR has been registered against Arnab Goswami of Republic TV, Feroz Shaikh of IcastX/Skimedia and Niteish Sarda of Smartworks, on the charge of abetment to suicide at Alibaug police station on a complaint by Akshata, the wife of the deceased.” He further added, “The deceased, an interior decorator, had worked with the three persons he has named in the suicide note. According to his wife’s compliant, the three did not clear his pending bills, leading Naik to suffer severe losses in his business.”
As per the suicide note, Republic TV owes Rs 83 lakhs to Naik, while IcastX owed the deceased dues over Rs 400 lakhs and Nitesh Sarda of Smartworks owed Rs 55 lakhs to him.
However, a statement issued by Republic TV late Saturday reads that some groups with vested interests are running a false and malicious campaign and making false statements against the channel by exploiting the unfortunate demise of Anvay Naik. The statement released by Republic TV editor Niranjan Narayanaswamy further reads, “Republic TV will take strict legal action against anyone indulging in such false propaganda. Republic TV would like to clarify that it had engaged the services of one Concorde Designs Private Limited sometime in December 2016. All amounts due and payable under the contract were paid by Republic TV to Concorde Designs. The details of payment, including cheque numbers, amounts, dates of payment, related correspondence and documentation are available with Republic TV. All such details and evidence will be given to the appropriate authorities as and when required. Our thoughts and prayers are with Mr Naik’s family.”
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Yet, police have not arrested anyone. The Police said they will conduct a proper inquiry and check documents before taking any future actions.
All sorts of attempts were tried in the past as well to damage the image of Arnab Goswami and Republic TV. Since its launch, Republic TV has become a phenomenal success. In a very short period of time, Republic TV became the market leader and has convincingly beaten the NDTV and India Today in TRPs. Currently, Republic TV is number one in the ratings. The liberal media has come out against Arnab Goswami all guns blazing. They are bashing a man who allegedly owes 83 lakhs but are quite on another person who owes 4 crores. Is this another ploy against Arnab and Republic? Only time will tell!