'My life is at stake; not being allowed to talk to lawyers', shouts Arnab while being shifted to jail

News Network

November 8, 2020

Mumbai, Nov 8: Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami on Sunday said he was subjected to torture and was not being allowed to talk to his lawyers. A video released by the Republic Television showed him speaking to media from the police van which shifted him from Alibag primary school in Rajgad district to Taloja jail in Navi Mumbai.

“I had requested them please let me talk (to my lawyers). But they denied. I am telling everyone my life is at stake. My police custody was rejected. They tried to shift me at night only. Today morning they have dragged me. Everybody is seeing what is happening to me. They want to delay the process and keep me in jail. Please give me bail, I am appealing to the Supreme Court,” the 47-year-old journalist could be seen saying with folded hands in the video.

Goswami was arrested on November 4 from his Lower Parel residence in connection with 2018’s abetment to suicide case of interior designer Anvay Naik who, in his suicide note, had blamed Goswami and two others for his and his mother’s suicide.Since November 4, he was lodged at the primary school which has been converted into a Covid-19 facility. Now, he will be kept for a few days in a quarantine centre inside Taloja jail before he is shifted to the barrack, Kaushtubh Kurlekar, superintendent of police (SP), Taloja jail, said.

Goswami was supposed to be moved to Alibag jail after he would have finished his quarantine period in the Covid-19 facility. But the decision to shift him to another jail was prompted after Goswami was allegedly found using someone’s mobile phone in the quarantine centre.

Meanwhile, Delhi Police on Sunday detained BJP leaders Kapil Mishra and Tajinder Bagga and foiled their bid to hold a protest at Rajghat in support of Arnab Goswami.

Two hearings in the suicide abetment case are scheduled on Monday.

The Bombay High Court will pronounce its order on Goswami’s interim bail application. On Saturday, a division bench of Justices S S Shinde and M S Karnik after a day-long hearing in the pleas reserved its order without granting any immediate relief.A notice issued late Saturday night on the high court’s website said the bench would assemble at 3 pm on November 9 for pronouncement of the order.

The sessions court at Alibag will also hear the police’s plea challenging a magistrate’s order which denied them Goswami’s custody.

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Chaos continues as IndiGo cancels more flights including 73 from Bengaluru airport

News Network

December 4,2025

Domestic carrier IndiGo has cancelled over 180 flights from three major airports — Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru — on Thursday, December 4, as the airline struggles to secure the required crew to operate its flights in the wake of new flight-duty and rest-period norms for pilots.

While the number of cancellations at Mumbai airport stands at 86 (41 arrivals and 45 departures) for the day, at Bengaluru, 73 flights have been cancelled, including 41 arrivals, according to a PTI report that quoted sources.

"IndiGo cancelled over 180 flights on Thursday at three airports-Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru," the source told the news agency.

Besides, it had cancelled as many as 33 flights at Delhi airport for Thursday, the source said, adding, "The number of cancellations is expected to be higher by the end of the day."

The Gurugram-based airline's On-Time Performance (OTP) nosedived to 19.7 per cent at six key airports — Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Hyderabad — on December 3, as it struggled to get the required crew to operate its services, down from almost half of December 2, when it was 35 per cent.

"IndiGo has been facing acute crew shortage since the implementation of the second phase of the FDTL (Flight Duty Time Limitations) norms, leading to cancellations and huge delays in its operations across the airports," a source had told PTI on Wednesday.

Chaos continued at several major airports for the third day on Thursday because of the cancellations.

A spokesperson for the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) in Bengaluru said that 73 IndiGo flights had been cancelled on Thursday.

At least 150 flights were cancelled and dozens of others delayed on Wednesday, airport sources said, leaving thousands of travellers stranded, according to news agency Reuters.

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has said it is investigating IndiGo flight disruptions and has asked the airline to submit the reasons for the current situation, as well as its plans to reduce flight cancellations and delays.

It may be mentioned here that the pilots' body, Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP), has alleged that IndiGo, despite getting a two-year preparatory window before the full implementation of new flight duty and rest period norms for cockpit crew, "inexplicably" adopted a "hiring freeze".

The FIP said it has urged the safety regulator, the DGCA, not to approve airlines' seasonal flight schedules unless they have adequate staff to operate their services "safely and reliably" in accordance with the New Flight Duty Time Limitations (FDTL) norms.

In a letter to the DGCA late on Wednesday, the FIP urged the DGCA to consider re-evaluating and reallocating slots to other airlines, which have the capacity to operate them without disruption during the peak holiday and fog season if IndiGo continues to "fail in delivering on its commitments to passengers due to its own avoidable staffing shortages."

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