Delhi Police FIR reveals NewsClick founder conspired to sabotage 2019 polls, siphoned off funds
- In Current Affairs
- 10:37 PM, Oct 06, 2023
- Myind Staff
In its FIR against news portal NewsClick, the Delhi Police has linked the organization with "illegally infusing foreign funds" through Chinese telecom companies such as Xiaomi and Vivo as part of a "larger criminal conspiracy" to "disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India."
The latest FIR against NewsClick has been filed under sections 13 (unlawful activities), 16 (terrorist act), 17 (raising funds for terrorist acts), 18 (conspiracy), and 22 (C) (offenses by companies) of the UAPA, as well as sections 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).
The FIR names NewsClick editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha, Shanghai-based American businessman Neville Roy Singham and activist Gautam Navlakha, as the accused. Navlakha is also an accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence case.
The FIR says that one People's Dispatch Portal, owned and maintained by NewsClick, was used for allegedly intentionally peddling false narratives about Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh through paid news in crores of rupees of illegally routed foreign funds as part of a conspiracy.
"... secret inputs have been received that foreign funds in crores have been illegally infused by Indian and foreign entities inimical to India... Since April 2018, such fraudulent funds in crores have been received by M/s PPK NewsClick Studio Pvt Ltd through illegal means during a short span of five years from M/s Worldwide Media Holdings LLC and others..." the FIR states.
The FIR said that big Chinese telecom companies such as Xiaomi and Vivo incorporated thousands of shell companies in India in violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) for illegally infusing foreign funds in India.
NewsClick founder and editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha, activist Neville Roy Singham and writer Geeta Hariharan conspired to create a legal community network in India to put up a "spirited defense of legal cases" against these Chinese telecom companies "in return for benefits", the FIR said, while naming one "Gautam Bhatia" as a "key person".
In the FIR, Delhi Police's Special Cell has made claims like Purkayastha and his associates have used farmers' protests and Covid-19 pandemic to "cause disaffection against India" by using funds provided by Neville Roy Singham, an investor who it alleges is close to the Chinese establishment, as well as trying to sabotage the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
It adds that Navlakha was a shareholder in NewsClick since its inception in 2018 while accusing him of involvement in anti-Indian and unlawful activities such as “actively supporting” banned naxal (Maoist) organizations. The FIR claims that Navlakha has been connected to Purkayastha since 1991 and mentions his "anti-national nexus" with Ghulam Nabi Fai, who received a two-year prison sentence in the United States in 2012 for allegedly operating illegally for the Pakistani espionage agency Inter-Services Intelligence.
According to the FIR, the funds infused into NewsClick were distributed to journalists Abhisar Sharma, Urmilesh (identified by a single name only), Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Trina Shankar and Aratrika Halder, among others. The FIR went on to claim that these journalists were associates of civil rights activist Teesta Setalvad. According to reports, the ED is looking into money transactions of about Rs 40 lakh from NewsClick to Teesta Setalvad's family.
The allegations have been denied by NewsClick, which claims that it has never published any news or material at the direction of any Chinese entity or authority. It denied following any instructions given by Singham.
“All funding received by Newsclick has been through the appropriate banking channels and been reported to the relevant authorities as required by law, as substantiated by the Reserve Bank of India in proceedings before the high court of Delhi,” the portal said in a statement.
After raids across five cities over allegations of irregularities in the web portal’s cashbooks and foreign funding, NewsClick’s founder Purkayastha and its Human Resource Head Amit Chakravarty were arrested on Tuesday in connection with a case registered in August under the stringent anti-terrorism Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and Indian Penal Code’s Sections 153A (promoting enmity) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
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