Raid on NewsClick: Police had made a list of 25 questions for questioning, long questioning took place
Delhi Police had prepared a list of 25 questions to interrogate the journalists of online news portal Newsclick.
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Delhi Police has arrested Prabir Purkayastha, founder and editor-in-chief of online news portal Newsclick, and its HR head Amit Chakraborty on charges of taking money from abroad to campaign for China.
In this connection, in the case registered under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the special branch of the police sealed the office of the website. They raided 30 locations of journalists associated with it and confiscated mobiles, laptops and other digital devices and documents from some of them.
Giving information about the arrest of Purkayastha and Chakraborty, Delhi Police spokesperson Suman Nalwa said that a total of 46 suspects were interrogated. Of these, 37 male suspects were questioned at the Special Branch office and nine female suspects were questioned at their residence.
The Special Branch raids, focused on Delhi-NCR, began on Tuesday morning. Prabir Purkayastha was later taken to Newsclick's South Delhi office, where a forensic team was already present. From there Purkayastha was taken to the Special Branch office for questioning.
Delhi Police had prepared a list of 25 questions to interrogate the journalists of online news portal Newsclick. Sources said that this included questions related to his foreign trips, protests in Shaheen Bagh against the Citizenship Amendment Act, farmers' demonstrations etc. Sources said that the police had divided the people who were to be interrogated into three categories A, B and C. However, he did not give detailed information about this.
What are the allegations against Newsclick?
The website is under investigation by the Economic Offenses Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) amid allegations of receiving funds from China.
On August 17, the Special Branch of Delhi Police had registered a new case against the news portal under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including UAPA and sections 153A (promoting enmity between two groups), 120B (criminal conspiracy). Recently, Newsclick was in the news for receiving money from American millionaire Neville Roy Singham. In 2021 also, EOW had started investigation against Newsclick.
Explain the action
Delhi Police reached our house because one of our party colleagues lives with us and his son works in Newsclick. There is no information about the reason behind the raid. We want them to clarify. -Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) General Secretary
Attempt to divert attention from caste census... Ever since the shocking figures of caste census of Bihar have come out, the demand for caste census has started gaining momentum in the country. When a question outside the syllabus comes up, the PM brings out a tried and tested weapon like this, so that people's attention can be diverted. -Pawan Kheda, head of media and publicity department of Congress.
Sign of BJP's defeat
These raids are a sign of the losing BJP. This is not a new thing. The BJP rulers have always conducted raids against honest journalists, but how many crores are being given to friendly channels every month in the name of government propaganda.
Action as per rules
The investigating agencies are independent and working as per the law. It is not written anywhere that if you have received money illegally or have done any objectionable work then the investigating agencies cannot investigate it. -Anurag Thakur, Union Minister
Satan's sermon on scriptures
The Congress preaching about the press is like preaching about the devil's scriptures. -Shehzad Poonawala, BJP spokesperson
Attack on freedom of press: Media organization
Various media organizations including Editors Guild, Press Club have criticized the raid on NewsClick journalists and termed it an attack on the freedom of the press. A statement issued by the Editors Guild of India said, we want to tell the government that independent media holds an important place in a functioning democracy. We urge the government to ensure respect and security of this fourth pillar. The Press Club issued a statement saying it stood with the journalists. Women's Press Club called it repression of journalists.
Aware of the arrest of journalists: America
Regarding the raids against journalists and Newsclick's ties with China, US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said, we are aware of those concerns and have seen reporting about the news portal's ties to China. But we cannot comment on the veracity of those claims right now. The U.S. Government supports the strong role of the media and social media in a vibrant and free democracy. We continue to raise concerns about these matters with the Government of India and countries around the world through our diplomatic engagements. But I do not have additional information related to this particular issue or situation which may or may not be related to this portal.