Fresh and explosive revelations have come to the fore in the NewsClick case as witnesses who have worked with the media portal have made some shocking statements during the investigation. Witnesses who were employed by the alleged media house said that they were instructed to provoke Muslims to engage in violence and riots. They received cash to distribute to protesters during the anti-CAA (Citizenship Amendment Act) and Shaheen Bagh demonstrations.
Furthermore, witnesses have stated that rioters obtained proceeds from China through the media platform to purchase firearms for unrest and arson. Money was also handed over to people in Kashmir to create insurrection, as per a report by India Today based on the chargesheet filed by the police.
These protected witness testimonies were recorded in court under section 41 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and are also included in the chargesheet that the Delhi Police recently submitted and cognizance has been taken on the same. The witnesses, some of whom had worked with NewsClick, unveiled that the staff was dispatched to the anti-CAA and Shaheen Bagh demonstrations to incite people against a particular religion. The employees of NewsClick collected payment from the company so that it could be transferred to the agitators and utilized to fuel the chaos.
Several groups, particularly two on WhatsApp, were active, and one of these groups wanted to use the anti-CAA, farmers and Shaheen Bagh protests to intensify the civil turmoil. The latter was engaged in efforts to sustain the uprising in Kashmir. There were people on the payroll of NewsClick who were not only working as journalists but also furthering propaganda. They altered maps of sensitive regions including Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh.
Furthermore, the name of Sharjeel Imam, an accused in the anti-CAA violence case has also surfaced. He took money from Prabir Purkayastha to forward their nefarious agenda. The chargesheet, witness statements and the evidence of the funds have all been submitted by the Delhi Police in the court.
Routed money from Neville Roy Singham to Teesta Setalvad
The report states that one of the persons who received foreign funding through the portal was activist Teesta Setalvad. In the chargesheet, police claimed that she received the money through “convenient ways” which was use to revive her portal ‘Sabrang India’. According to the chargesheet, the ‘news-syndications scam’, whereby columnists and authors worked for Teesta Setalvad, were paid by Prabir Purkayastha.
In the articles supplied by Teesta’s group published by the portal, the names and authors were shown as ‘Sabrang India’, and the real writers were not revealed. This helped Teesta Setalvad to earn nearly Rs 3 lakh for ‘Sabrang India’, more than Rs 1 crore for her employees, and Rs 39 lakh for personal use by her family, as per the chargesheet.
Delhi Police in its chargesheet said that this was the “most convenient way” of receiving tainted foreign money by Teesta Setalvad despite being under the radar of probe agencies. The police said that analysis of retrieved e-mails, examination of witnesses, financial instigations and testimonies of protected witnesses established that Teesta Setalvad, Prabir Purkayastha and Neville Roy Singham were in an “interoperable triumvirate”. Singham is Purkayastha’s long-standing associate and an American millionaire.
The chargesheet further claimed that the three persons were supporting each other for their individual needs, apart from the execution of a larger Left Wing Extremism (LWE) agenda of Neville’s financiers. As per the police, email exchanges between Teesta Setalvad and Neville Roy Singham show that Neville Roy Singham was funding her portal ‘Sabrang India’ and NGO Citizens for Justice and Peace’ (CJP) via Prabir Purkayastha.
As per the chargesheet, during an investigation on December 13, 2023, a Special Cell team had gone to Mumbai to investigate this and a notice was served to Teesta Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand – also the co-editor of ‘Sabrang India’ – to provide details on the transactions. The team sought Sabrang India’s agreement with the NewsClick founder-editor for sharing manpower, salary details and articles/videos produced by them.
NewsClick is accused of collecting over Rs 80 crore from Chinese corporations. The First Information Report mentioned that the news outlet took money from Chinese organizations with the goal of “disrupting the sovereignty of India” and stirring up hatred for the country. A Delhi court had earlier granted police another 10 days to complete their investigation into Prabir Purkayastha. The head of NewsClick’s HR division and a former accuser who is now an approver, Amit Chakravarty’s judicial custody has been increased by ten days.
Police informed that in October 2023 raids were conducted at 88 locations in Delhi and seven other states, targeting the individuals included in the FIR as well as those whose names emerged during data analysis. Furthermore, Prabir Purkayastha is charged with conspiring to sabotage the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and collaborating with the People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS).
The Delhi Police arrested Newsclick founder and editor Prabir Purkayastha and HR head Amit Chakravarty on 3rd October of last year under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Delhi Police raided and sealed the NewsClick office on the same day in relation to the case involving foreign funding from China to spread narratives that were critical of India.