Maha Cong holds statewide protest to seek action against Arnab

The Congress on Friday heldprotests across Maharashtra toseek action against Republic TVeditor-in-chiefArnab Goswami over his purported WhatsAppchats concerning Balakotair strike, which it said amounted tobreach of national security and violation of Official SecretsAct.

The Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC)staged protests in all the districts of the state demandingimmediate arrest of Goswami.

The purported chats between Goswami and formerBroadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) head ParthoDasgupta in connection with the Balakot air strike revealedthat the former had received highly confidential informationabout the country's security and he used it to increase theTRP of his channel which is a very serious issue, the stateunit of the Congress said in a statement here.

''This amounts to treason,'' it alleged.

''India launched an airstrike on Balakot in Pakistanafter an attack on CRPF personnel at Pulwama. How did Goswamiget the information three days before this action took place?Did he give this information to anyone else? These questionsneed to be answered. His actions violate the Official SecretsAct and are a form of treason,'' it said.

Mumbai Congress chief Bhai Jagtap led the protest nearthe Republic TV's office at Worli in south Mumbai.

Accusing Goswami of being ''BJP's stooge'' and an ''anti-national'', Jagtap said he had violated the provisions of theOfficial Secrets Act.

''How did Goswami get the sensitive information, whichonly the PMOand the Defence Ministry is privy to? Thesensitive information was used in boosting the TRP of hischannel,'' the Congress leader alleged.

In Latur the protest was held under the leadership ofDheeraj Deshmukh, while in Parbhani, MLA Suresh Warpudkar ledthe protest.

Similar protests were also held in Amravati, Nagpur,Solapur, Aurangabad, Nashik, Kolhapur, Chandrapur, Ratnagiri,Jalgaon, Nandurbar and Dhule.

During the protests, the party workers slapped theimages of Goswami with footwear, the statement said.