Crackdown on NewsClick: Delhi Police conduct raids, question journalists, satirists, activists over UAPA case
On Tuesday, the Delhi Police Special Cell raided 30 locations of the houses of journalists and employees of the media outlet NewsClick in Delhi, Noida, and Ghaziabad in connection with receiving funds from China.
As per sources, the Special Cell has registered a fresh case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
Delhi Police’s ongoing raids at different premises linked to NewsClick are based on a case registered on 17th August under UAPA and other sections of IPC. Case registered under sections of UAPA, 153A of IPC (promoting enmity between two groups), 120B of IPC (Criminal conspiracy)
During the raid, the Special Cell also seized electronic evidence, laptops, and mobile phones and also took data dumps of hard disks.
Sources said that NewsClick’s Abhisar Sharma, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Prabir Purkayastha, Urmilesh, Aunindyo Chakraborty, and Bhasha Singh, besides satirist Sanjay Rajaura and activist Sohail Hashmi were raided by the special cell.
A probe by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had revealed that an overseas fund amounting to Rs.38.05 crores was deceitfully injected into NewsClick over a span of three years.
As per primary information, the below-mentioned journalist has received funds:
- Abhisar Sharma – Rs.45 lakh
- Paranjoy Guha – Rs.40 lakh
- Gautam Navlakha – Rs.21 lakh
- Javed Anand (Teesta’s Husband) – Rs.13 lakh
- Tamara (Teesta’s daughter) – Rs.11 lakh
- Urmilesh – Rs.23 lakh
On August 5, The New York Times published an article titled “A US Tech Mogul Linked to a Global Web of Chinese Propaganda“, which alleged that NewsClick was part of a global network receiving funding from American millionaire Neville Roy Singham, who was purportedly closely associated with the Chinese government media.
Citing the report, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur asserted that the Congress, China, and NewsClick had an “anti-India umbilical cord” and were pushing the agenda of the Communist Party of China through the website.
[With Inputs from IANS]
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