CBI to probe NewsClick over violation of foreign fund norms
Synopsis
The Enforcement Directorate, primarily tasked with probing financial frauds, alleges that NewsClick received approximately Rs 38 crore from entities with suspected ties to China. The CBI will investigate the case against NewsClick.
New Delhi: According to the latest reports, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will investigate the NewsClick over allegations of violating foreign funds regulations. As part of the investigation, the CBI's Economic Offences Wing conducted a search at its founder Prabir Purkayastha's residence on Wednesday (Oct 11) morning.
In the case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act that the Delhi Police filed, Purkayastha and the director of human resources for NewClick, Amit Chakraborty, are both currently in judicial custody. The Delhi Police Special Cell, Delhi Police Economic Offences Wing, Enforcement Directorate, and Income Tax Department are already investigating the charges against NewsClick that it received financing from China and disseminated Chinese propaganda.
On Tuesday (Oct 3), the Delhi Police conducted extensive raids on a wide range of individuals connected to NewsClick, including journalists, freelancers, writers, and satirists. The English news website has been under scrutiny following allegations of receiving foreign funding.
During these operations, journalists such as Urmilesh, Aunindyo Chakravarty, Abhisar Sharma, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, historian Sohail Hashmi, satirist Sanjay Rajoura, and D Raghunandan from the Centre for Technology & Development were among those questioned.
During these searches, law enforcement authorities seized electronic evidence, including laptops and mobile phones, and extracted data from hard disks. The raids were conducted based on information provided by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), suggesting potential unlawful activities involving the individuals in question.
The Enforcement Directorate, primarily tasked with probing financial frauds, alleges that NewsClick received approximately Rs 38 crore from entities with suspected ties to China. This money purportedly went towards the salaries of eight journalists. In total, at least ten journalists associated with NewsClick were subject to these searches.
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