Chinese Funding: Delhi Police Raids NewsClick Journalists, CPIM Leader Yechury's House Also Searched

The Special Cell of Delhi Police on Tuesday raided the locations linked to media outlet NewsClick in connection with a case lodged by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on charges of money laundering and publishing content favouring China on its platform.

The raids were carried out on the offices of the media outlet and its employees’ residences in the Delhi-NCR region. The police seized the journalists’ laptops and also issued summons to them to join the probe.

The resident of CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury was also raided by the Delhi Police to search belongings of some NewsClick employees who had stayed at the premises. Yechury has said that this is an attempt to muzzle the media, adding that this is the proof why India is sliding in the press freedom index.

Meanwhile, reacting to the raids on the premises linked to NewsClick, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said, “I don’t need to justify… If anyone has committed anything wrong, search agencies are free to carry out investigations against them under set guidelines…”

NewsClick is being probed by the ED in a Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) case in which the news outlet is accused of taking Rs 38 crore from a Chinese citizen and using it to spread “pro-China propaganda” in India through its news stories.

While sources said NewsClick’s Abhisar Sharma is among the journalists being raided by Delhi Police, Sharma took to X and wrote about the same. “Delhi police landed at my home. Taking away my laptop and Phone…,” he wrote on X.

Another NewsClick journalist, Bhasha Singh, also wrote on X, “Finally last tweet from this phone. Delhi police seizure my phone.”

An August 5 report of the New York Times, headlined, ‘A Global Web of Chinese Propaganda Leads to a US Tech Mogul’ claimed that NewsClick was a part of a global network that received funding from American millionaire Neville Roy Singham, who allegedly works closely with the Chinese government propaganda machine. “In New Delhi, corporate filings show Singham’s network financed a news site, NewsClick, that sprinkled its coverage with Chinese government talking points. ‘China’s history continues to inspire the working classes,’ one video said,” the report noted.

Following the report, the news website issued a statement on August 7 and claimed that the allegations were made against it “by certain political actors and sections of the media are unfounded and without basis in fact or law.”

The NYT investigation revealed how a group of influence campaigns, media organisations and shell companies were funded by China to disseminate its propaganda showed how Singham financed NewsClick which was also a part of the Chinese propaganda.

The ED on August 10 moved the Delhi High Court seeking vacation of its interim order directing no coercive action against NewsClick.

The agency said the news portal’s plea, in which the interim order was passed, sought quashing of ECIR which is an internal document and is not even statutory as held by the Supreme Court in Vijay Madanlal Choudhary & Ors. vs Union of India & Ors.

In light of a further investigation into the matter, the federal agency said that additional material has been revealed which discloses the commission of the offence of money laundering as well as the commission of a scheduled offence which has been intimated to the predicate agency as well, by way of an appropriate communication u/s 66(2) of the PMLA as well.

NewsClick is a media platform that was founded in 2009 by Prabir Purkayastha, who is also the Editor-in-Chief of the organisation. The online news portal covers both Indian and International news and is owned by PPK NEWSCLICK Studio Private Limited.

The news website claims that it reports “diverse people’s movements and struggles” and focuses on “progressive movements.”

The news website’s office in New Delhi was previously raided by the ED in 2021.

The federal agency began an enquiry against the website based on critical evidence of money laundering. During this investigation, the search on the premises of PPK lasted for five days and a total of 10 premises were including the residence of Prabir Purkayastha, the promoter of the company.

The ED said that had received questionable foreign remittances amounting to Rs 38 crores. These remittances were classified as FDI of Rs 9.59 crore from April 2018, and remaining Rs 28.29 crore, was claimed to have been received for receipts for “export of services.” The funds were also distributed to several controversial journalists including Gautam Navlakha and associates of Teestha Setalvad.

In August this year, NewsClick said it is an independent news organisation, and any insinuation that they function as a “mouth-piece of the Communist Party of China or other interests” is false.