Delhi Police Arrests NewsClick Founder Prabir Purkayastha, HR Head Amit Chakravarty In Chinese Funding Case

Delhi Police disclosed on Tuesday (3 October) evening that two arrests have been made in a case registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for the alleged Chinese funding that NewsClick received illegally.

The two accused are Prabir Purkayastha, founder and editor-in-chief of NewsClick and the portal's HR head Amit Chakravarty. They were arrested after an interrogation of 37 male suspects and nine female suspects.

Delhi Police also told ANI that "digital devices, documents, etc. have been seized or collected for examination." Earlier today, the Delhi police special cell carried out raids at 35 locations.

Previously, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) had initiated a case against NewsClick, scrutinising its financial transactions. This central agency had also seized assets linked to the news portal.

In August, a New York Times investigation implicated NewsClick as one of the organisations funded by a network associated with US millionaire Neville Roy Singham, allegedly promoting Chinese propaganda.

Back in 2021, the Economic Offences Wing of Delhi Police had filed a case against NewsClick, bringing the news portal's funding sources under scrutiny.

The subsequent ED case was a continuation of these proceedings. The agency had discovered that the promoters of NewsClick had received approximately Rs 38 crores from entities allegedly linked to the Communist Party of China. 

Income Tax officers had also searched the news portal's offices in 2021 in connection to an alleged tax evasion case.