DCP files defamation complaint against Arnab Goswami, wife

The deputy commissioner of police, Zone IX, Abhishek Trimukhe, has filed a defamation complaint against Republic TV’s Editor-inChief Arnab Goswami, his wife and director Samyabrata Ray and ARG Outlier Media Pvt Ltd for defamatory statements against him during a panel discussion on Republic Bharat in connection with the Sushant Singh Rajput death case.

The panel discussion was on Rajput’s partner Rhea Chakraborty’s phone records. The complaint said that defamatory attacks were made on him, a 2007 batch IPS officer, with the singular view of assassinating his official character and thereby causing humiliation to Mumbai Police.

The discussion was telecast on

Republic Bharat and uploaded on its YouTube channel. Arnab, it stated, had very cunningly used Rhea’s phone records to launch a systemic attack on Mumbai Police and called the “sensationalistic” approach “unbecoming” of a journalist. It stated that graphics and ticker flash were used in the show with the name and picture of Trimukhe, to imply that he had used his official position to help perpetrators get away from justice.

The telecast caused him distress, as he received several calls from seniors, government officials, relatives and institutions, asking him to explain the veracity of the allegations, he said in his complaint. The numerous calls, messages and visits he and his family members had to endure to clarify the facts only aggravated their suffering, he added.

Mentioning a defamation case wherein Arnab and Times Now, where he was earlier employed, were directed to pay Rs 100 crore in damages, Trimukhe called him a “habitual offender” who must be dealt with sternly. He said further that Arnab is "no alien to questionable behaviour" and "unethical journalism".