NEW DELHI: Police have sealed the Delhi office of news portal NewsClick, which is under investigation for accepting Rs 38 crore from US businessman Neville Roy Singham to spread the Chinese agenda. The Delhi Police conducted raids at 30 places, including the portal's office and residences of media workers. Prabir Purkayastha, founder and editor-in-chief of NewsClick, has been arrested.
The raids were held in a case registered on August 17 under the UAPA against News Click and 10 journalists. The raids began after 200 officers held a meeting at 2 a.m. on Tuesday.
Veteran journalists Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Urmilesh, Aunindyo Chakraborty, Satyam Tiwari, Bhasha Singh, video journalist Abhisar Sharma, stand-up comedian Sanjay Rajoura, scientist D. Raghunandan and others were taken into custody. Some were questioned and released later.
A raid was also conducted at activist Teesta Setalvad's residence in Mumbai. The residences of cartoonist Irfan, media activists Subodh Verma, Anuradha Raman, Aditi Nigam, Sumedha Pal, historian Sohail Hashmi and writer Geeta Hariharan were also inspected. A mobile phone and a laptop were seized.
Chinese links
ED is probing allegations of money laundering in NewsClick's Rs 38 crore deal. The New York Times reported that China is implementing its agenda through NewsClick.
Neville Roy Singham