Arnab Goswami's car 'attacked' in Mumbai; 2 held

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, April 23

The Mumbai police have arrested two men for allegedly trying to throw black paint on television anchor Arnab Goswami in the wee hours of Thursday.

According to police, Pratik Kumar Shamsunder Mishra and Arun Dilip Borade, who were on a motorcycle, intercepted Goswami’s car when he was on his way home from work shortly after midnight. Goswami was accompanied by his wife Samyabrata Ray. After the television anchor, who was at the wheel of the car, did not roll down the window, the duo splashed some black paint on the vehicle.

Goswami’s security personnel who were in another vehicle caught Mishra and Borade and handed them over to the N M Joshi Marg police.

According to the police, both of them have been arrested. Goswami’s Republic Television said both the accused were workers of the Congress party.

The accused have been identified as office-bearers of the Youth Congress in the Sion-Koliwada Assembly constituency. Mishra is the general secretary of the Sion-Koliwada Youth Congress and Borade is the president.

“Two men on a motorcycle overtook my car and tried to identify who was driving. They then blocked the path of my car with their two-wheeler.  The pillion rider hit the right side driver window several times and after realising that the car windows were up, the pillion rider removed a liquid bottle from his pocket and threw liquid on the driver’s side of the car where I was sitting,” Goswami said in his complaint with the police.

The television anchor, who has been ranting against Congress president Sonia Gandhi for the lynching of two sadhus outside Mumbai last weekend, blamed her for the attack on his car.

The Maharashtra unit of the Congress party, however, condemned the attack on Goswami.

“I don’t think that any Congress worker would have attacked him because the Congress does not work like this,” Maharashtra Energy Minister Nitin Raut said in a statement.

He, however, hit out at Goswami for his attack on Sonia Gandhi.