After conducting extensive raids on around 30 locations related to NewsClick and people associated with it, the special cell of Delhi Police sealed the main office premises of the Leftist news portal on Tuesday, 3rd October.
Delhi Police Special Cell officials seal the office of 'NewsClick' in Delhi.
— TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) October 3, 2023
Delhi Police is conducting raids at different premises linked to NewsClick under UAPA and other sections today.#NewsClick #Delhi pic.twitter.com/CUblb1xXPT
After the sealing, the promoters and staffers of NewsClick will have to approach the court to get the premises back. Since 6 am in the morning, extensive raids have been going on in multiple premises. Laptops, phones and other gadgets have also been seized by the Delhi Police.
Earlier, it was reported that a fresh case has been registered under UAPA against NewsClick over receiving suspicious funding from China.
As part of the investigation, editor of NewsClick Prabir Purkayastha and writers Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and Urmilesh were brought to the special cell offices in the national capital today.
Meanwhile, in Mumbai, teams of the Delhi Police special cell & Mumbai police conducted searches at the residence of activist Teesta Setalvad.
The raids are being conducted on a case registered on August 17 under UAPA and other sections of IPC, which include UAPA, 153A of IPC (promoting enmity between two groups), and 120 B of IPC (criminal conspiracy).
It is pertinent to note that NewsClick has been under the scanner for illicit foreign funding since the year 2021 – when Abhisar Sharma was working for the portal as well. Teesta Setalvad and Gautam Navlakha were also accused of taking funds form China that were obtained through newsClick.
Earlier on August 22, the Delhi High Court issued notice to news portal NewsClick’s Editor in Chief Prabir Purkayastha on a plea filed by Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing (EoW), seeking direction to vacate its interim order asking the probe agency not to take any coercive action against the news site, news agency ANI reported.
The investigation conducted by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) unveiled that an overseas fund amounting to Rs. 38.05 crores was deceitfully injected into NewsClick over a span of three years.
After the ED investigation in 2021, an investigation by the New York Times in August 2023 uncovered an ecosystem of activist organisations, non-profits, shell corporations, and their intimate ties to China and Chinese propaganda. Notably, Neville Roy Singham is at the heart of this network. The article read, “What is less known, and is hidden amid a tangle of nonprofit groups and shell companies, is that Mr Singham works closely with the Chinese government media machine and is financing its propaganda worldwide.”
