On Sunday, Police detained BJP leaders Kapil Mishra and Tajinder Bagga at Rajghat in New Delhi. They were trying to hold a protest seeking the release of Arnab Goswami, editor-in-chief of Republic TV. The Maharashtra Police arrested Arnab Goswami earlier this week in connection to abetment to a 2018 suicide case.
According to Police officials, the BJP leaders Mishra and Bagga were holding a dharna near the Mahatma Gandhi memorial accompanied by a few more party members around 9 am. The police have detained the duo along with few other protestors. The police took them to Rajinder Nagar Police Station around 10.30 am.
A senior police officer said that they were trying to violate orders and insisted on holding a protest at Rajghat premises. The police released them later in the evening and charged no FIR against them. The officer said, “We told them to conduct a protest at a designated spot and tried to remove them, but they didn’t listen. They violated the government’s orders under CrPC Section 144, so we detained them in the morning. Later, they were released along with the other protesters.”
Later both Mishra and Bagga took to Twitter and informed of their arrests. A former Delhi government minister, Kapil Mishra said they planned the protest to support Goswami against his arrest by the Maharashtra Police.
अर्णब गोस्वामी के साथ हो रहे अत्याचार के खिलाफ आज हम राजघाट गए
सभी साथियों को पुलिस ने राजघाट आने नहीं दिया , चारो तरफ बेरिकेड किया
हम तीन चार लोग राजघाट गए, हमें अरेस्ट कर लिया गया
अभी अभी हमें छोड़ा गया है#ArnabGoswamy@TajinderBagga @ippatel @aloksharmabjp59 pic.twitter.com/zc2TiotBjA
— Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishra_IND) November 8, 2020
We are against this atrocity against Goswami: Kapil Mishra
He said, “It’s a first in the country that not only a journalist has been arrested, his family members have also been booked just because he questioned the government. We are against this atrocity against Goswami committed by the Maharashtra government.”
Kapil Mishra said that he and some other members went to Rajghat to protest the arrest of Arnab Goswami. He also said that the police didn’t allow everyone to enter Rajghat and have ‘barricaded’ the premise. Furthermore, he said that the police arrested the three or four people who did enter Rajghat. He posted the tweet at 2 pm when the police set him free.
The Maharashtra Police arrested Arnab Goswami on Wednesday from his Lower Parel home in Mumbai. The police has charged him with the alleged abetment of the suicide of Anvay Naik, an interior designer. The police took him to the Alibaug Police Station in the neighboring Raigarh district. At the moment, the authorities have lodged him at a local school. The school is designated as a COVID-19 center for Alibaug prison.
A local court remanded Goswami in judicial custody till November 18.
