Arnab Goswami summoned by Additional Commissioner of Mumbai Police

MUMBAI: Republic TV chief Arnab Goswami has been issued a show-cause notice by Mumbai Police and asked to appear before the Additional Commissioner of Police in Worli on October 16.

Sources said Goswami has been asked to sign a bond that he won’t air provocative content.

He has been accused of instigating communal tension in connection with the death of two sadhus in Palghar district, outside Mumbai.

The sadhus were beaten to death in April by a mob after rumours that they were kidnapping children to harvest organs, including kidneys. It was among a slew of similar incidents triggered by WhatsApp forwards of rumours and fake news.

Shocking visuals from Gadchinchale village showed an out-of-control mob armed with sticks and stones attacking a police team as they tried to rescue the two sadhus and their driver. All were beaten to death.

On April 21, Mr Goswami had conducted talk show “Puchhta Hain Bharat” on the incident where he asked if it was a crime to be Hindu and wear saffron and whether the people would have remained silent had the victims been non-Hindu, the show-cause notice said.

A case under IPC sections 153 (giving provocation to cause riot) and 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on the basis of religion) and other sections was registered against him following the program, it added.

He is also accused in the incident of a crowd gathering at the Bandra Railway station during the lockdown in April.

The Republic TV is also fighting the accusation of tweaking ratings through bribery for bigger advertising revenue.