Even as the Maharashtra government defended the arrest of Republic TV Managing Director and Chief Editor Arnab Goswami here on Wednesday, the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) organised vociferous protests across the state to condemn the action.

Shiv Sena leader and Transport Minister Anil Parab said that the BJP is worried as "their pet parrot, in whom many lives are trapped, is now in the cage," while Sena MP and Spokesperson Sanjay Raut said that "if anybody has committed a crime, he would be punished".