BJP leaders detained in Delhi while protesting in support of Republic TV's Arnab Goswami

New Delhi: Police on Sunday detained BJP leaders Kapil Mishra and Tajinder Bagga and foiled their bid to hold a protest at Rajghat here in support of journalist Arnab Goswami, arrested in connection with a 2018 abetment of suicide case of an interior designer.

The two BJP leaders were whisked away to Rajender Nagar police station as they tried to stage a dharna near Mahtma Gandhi's memorial at Rajghat in the morning.

Mishra, a former minister of the Delhi government, said the protest was planned to support Goswami against his arrest by police in Maharashtra.

Read: No decision on Republic TV editor-in-chief Arnab Goswami's interim bail plea, Bombay HC to pass order soon

"It's a first in the country that not only a journalist has been arrested, his family members have also been booked just because he questioned the government. We are against this atrocity against Goswami committed by the Maharashtra government," he said.

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A senior police officer said 23 people, including Mishra and Bagga, were detained around 10.30 am as they tried to violate orders and insisted on holding a protest at Rajghat. They were later released.

Goswami was arrested on Wednesday from his residence at Lower Parel in Mumbai for allegedly abetting the suicide of interior designer Anvay Naik, and was taken to the Alibaug police station in neighbouring Raigad district.

He was remanded in judicial custody till November 18 by a local court.

Goswami is currently lodged at a local school which has been designated as a COVID-19 centre for the Alibaug prison.