Babul Supriyo surprised at sections slapped on Arnab Goswami's attackers, quips CM Uddhav

Expressing anguish over the attack on Republic Media Network's Editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami and his wife - Republic TV Editor Samyabrata Ray Goswami - on Wednesday night, Union Minister Babul Supriyo said that it was a “deliberate and orchestrated effort to intimidate the media.”  

Supriyo added that he was surprised at the sections slapped against the perpetrators of the attack, which indicated a ‘blatant attempt to dilute the case’. The BJP leader also called out Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to ‘explain’ the attempt by Mumbai Police to divert the complaint filed against the Youth Congress leaders. 

READ | Mumbai Police Won't Name Youth Cong In Arnab's FIR Despite Attackers Confessing To Officer

FIR has no mention of Youth Congress, despite proof

Ten hours after a complaint was filed over the physical attack on Arnab Goswami and his wife, the Mumbai Police finally registered an FIR on Thursday. However, the FIR, which is egregiously watered down, has no mention of the Congress and the Youth Congress despite the complaint copy which mentioned all the details of the Congress link, including their confessions to Arnab's Mumbai Police security attache, as also the photos and official party designations accessed by Republic.

Furthermore, the filing of the FIR had also taken considerable effort. It has been filed only under Sections 341 (Punishment for wrongful restraint) and 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of IPC, not even assault.

READ | I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar Issues Statement Over Attack On Arnab Goswami; Condemns It

Attackers part of Youth Congress

The attackers' confessed to Arnab's Mumbai police security after being apprehended that they were Youth Congress workers sent by party higher-ups to teach him a lesson. Accordingly, they attacked his car using objects after forcing it to stop, attempted to break the windows, shouted abuse, and threats.

READ | What FIR Should've Said But Didn't Despite Arnab's On-cam Protest & Attackers Confession

Read | Arnab Goswami & Samyabrata Ray Goswami's Full Complaint Copy After Physical Attack