Alibaug, May 6th: The authorities registered an abetment to suicide case against three persons, including the editor-in-chief of Republic TV, Arnab Goswami, following the death of a interior designer at his residence on Saturday.
Police said Anvay Naik committed suicide by hanging himself at his bungalow in Alibaug. The body of his mother, Kumud, was found near Naik. While it is yet to ascertain how Kumud died, based on the suicide note left behind by Naik, police have registered an abetment to suicide case against Goswami, Feroz Shaikh of IcastX/Skimedia and Niteish Sarda of Smartworks.
Naik’s wife has alleged that he committed suicide, as Republic TV did not pay his dues. A statement issued by Republic TV late Saturday said that certain vested interest groups are running a false and malicious campaign and making false statements and allegations against Republic TV by exploiting a tragic event involving Naik’s unfortunate demise.
“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,” the statement said.
Additional Superintendent of Police (Raigad) Sanjay Patil said, “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.” “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.”
Patil said while the family stays in Mumbai, Naik owned a bungalow in Alibaug. “On Friday evening, Naik and Kumud had come to the Alibaug bungalow. On Saturday morning, some local residents found the mother’s body on the ground floor while Naik was found hanging on the first floor,” he added.
The local residents rushed the duo to a local hospital, where they were declared brought dead on arrival. “There is still no clarity on the cause of Kumud’s death. We are awaiting the postmortem report,” Patil said. No arrests have been made yet. A police officer said they will check documentation regarding the bills that were allegedly not cleared before deciding the further course of action.
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Thiruvananthapuram/Kozhikode (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday said that a recent article in a RSS mouthpiece about the property owned in the country by the Catholic Church indicates the "true mindset" of the right-wing organisation and the alleged "majority communalism of the Sangh Parivar".
In a statement issued by his office, Vijayan said that though the article was removed from the website of the RSS mouthpiece, it gives some "negative signals".
The CM also alleged that it should be seen as part of "a grand plan to target the minority groups one by one and destroy them step by step".
A similar view was expressed by Leader of Opposition in the state assembly V D Satheesan who claimed that the article shows that the RSS has now set its eyes on the property of the church.
In his statement, the CM further claimed that it also shows the Sangh Parivar's "intense majority communalism which is against other religious communities".
Vijayan urged all progressive democratic secular movements to jointly resist such moves.
Satheesan, while speaking to reporters in Kozhikode, claimed that in the article the RSS has asked the central government to acquire the over seven crore hectares of land belonging to the Catholic Church.
He contended that according to the RSS, the church property was illegally leased during the British era.
Satheesan claimed that the RSS demand in the article came on the same day when the Waqf Bill was passed in the Parliament.
"We warned that if the Waqf Bill is passed, the Church Bill will follow," he added.
The opposition leader said that such actions indicate that while the Sangh Parivar was trying to appease Christians in Kerala, it was attacking them in the rest of the country.
He expressed hope that the Christians will recognise them as "wolves in sheep's clothing".