On Saturday (20th December), the wife of Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera intimidated the independent researcher who runs the popular OSINT handle ‘The Hawk Eye.’
Kota Neelima, who unsuccessfully contested the Telangana Vidhan Sabha election in 2023, vowed to take ‘legal action’ against him.
The development came hours after ‘The Hawk Eye’ accused her of spearheading a foreign-funded media influence network linked to the Congress party.
In a tweet, Kota Neelima claimed, “I am shocked at this defamatory rant masquerading as investigation in this thread. It is a deliberate lie, published with intent to injure my reputation. Every material assertion is false and malicious.”
“Civil and criminal proceedings are being initiated without delay against the author, publisher, and all who knowingly circulated it and amplified it. Consequences will be pursued to their full extent under law,” the wife of the Congress spokesperson threatened.
The Background of the Controversy
On Saturday (20th December), ‘The Hawk Eye’ published a 20-tweet thread, detailing the connection between the Congress party, foreign funding, and a media-narrative machinery controlled by the US and Islamists.
EXCLUSIVE CONTENT ?
— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) December 20, 2025
Congress. Foreign-Funding. Media. Narrative.
The man character of this story influence the media-narrative in India, controlled by US & Jamaat elements.
At the centre of it – Congress spox Pawan Khera'a wife Neelima Kota.
1/ pic.twitter.com/TJEbaKPr9o
The central figure in the Twitter thread was Kota Neelima, who is associated with a Delhi-based company named PROTO. According to the OSINT researcher, PROTO decides which Indian journalists can receive funding from the US deep State.
‘The Hawk Eye’ pointed out that the company was founded by the notorious International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) in 2018 to channelise foreign money to journalists worldwide.
He highlighted how ICFJ receives funding from George Soros, his Open Society Foundations and USAID. ‘The Hawk Eye’ stated that the brother of PROTO’s founder is associated with Jamaat-e-Islami Hind and participated in anti-CAA protests.
Instead of threatening legal action, why not explain, Madam @KotaNeelima, why PROTO founder Nasr ul Hadi featured your profile on PROTO’s homepage for years, prominently displayed alongside his own profile?#RebuttalThread ++
— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) December 21, 2025
1/ pic.twitter.com/0rT9gc9K9b
The OSINT researcher stated that the network operates a playbook for ‘regime change’ in India with funds which flows through ICFJ and PROTO to journalists influenced by Kota Neelima.
He added that the anti-India stories published by these ‘journalists’ are then amplified by the Congress party. ‘The Hawk Eye’ sought an investigation into the matter.
He stated that there was a conflict of interest on the part of Kota Neelima, the wife of Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera, due to her association with an outfit such as PROTO.
