TV anchor Goswami can contact lawyer: Minister

Maharastra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh replied to Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari's querie on allowing Republic Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami to contact his family members and lawyers from jail. Deshmukh added that outsiders were not allowed to visit jail for over the past four months due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Mumbai: Maharastra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh stated that Republic Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami, who was arrested last week in connection with abetment to suicide case, could be contacted by his family members and lawyer with the permission of the jail authorities. He added that visit by outsiders was restricted in jail for over past four months in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

Deshmukh's statement comes after Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari asked him to allow Goswami's kin to meet him. Koshyari had spoken to Deshmukh over the phone to convey his concern over the security and health of Goswami. The statement released from the governor's office had earlier conveyed to Deshmukh his concern over the manner in which Goswami was arrested.

Read:Maharashtra Guv speaks to Deshmukh over Arnab's security, health

Goswami and two others - Feroze Shaikh and Nitish Sarda - were arrested by Alibaug police in Raigad district on November 4 in connection with the suicide of architect-interior designer Anvay Naik and his mother in 2018 over alleged non-payment of dues by companies of the accused.

After his arrest from his residence in Mumbai, Goswami was taken to Alibaug, where the Chief Judicial Magistrate remanded him and the two others in judicial custody till November 18. Goswami was then kept at a local school which has been designated as a COVID-19 centre for the Alibaug prison. On Sunday, he was shifted to Taloja jail in Raigad district after allegedly being found using a mobile phone while in judicial custody.