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Puryakastha and Chakravarty were arrested on October 3 following a series of raids and were initially remanded in police custody for seven days
A Delhi Court on Wednesday sent NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and HR head Amit Chakroborty to police custody till November 2, 2023. Both were arrested in a case lodged under the UAPA following allegations about the news portal having received money for pro-China propaganda.
Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Hardeep Kaur of Patiala House Court passed the order.
The two accused were produced before the court today on the expiration of their judicial remand. The Special Cell of Delhi Police today sought the 9-day custodial remand of both the accused.
Earlier, the two accused were sent to 10-day judicial custody.
Purkayastha and Chakravarty were arrested on October 3 following a series of raids and were initially remanded in police custody for seven days after they were produced at the judge’s residence on Tuesday night.
The raids were conducted in the wake of allegations made in a New York Times article that NewsClick was being paid to boost Chinese propaganda.
According to reports, the Delhi Police on Tuesday searched more than 30 locations, questioned several journalists in connection with the case, and arrested Purkayastha and Chakravarty. Police sealed NewsClick's office in Delhi.
It is also stated that 46 suspects were questioned, and digital devices, including laptops and mobile phones, and documents were taken away for examination. Among those questioned were journalists Urmilesh, Aunindyo Chakravarty, Abhisar Sharma, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, and Sohail Hashmi; satirist Sanjay Rajoura; and D. Raghunandan of the Centre for Technology & Development. After being questioned for over six hours, they were allowed to go.
Notably, on October 13, the Delhi High Court "dismissed" the pleas challenging the arrest of NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and HR department head Amit Chakraborty.
The bench of Justice Tushar Rao Gedela had said, "Finding no merit in the case, it is dismissed".
Allegations in Delhi Police FIR
As per the FIR filed by the Delhi Police, Prabir Purkayastha conspired with a group, namely the People's Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS), to sabotage the electoral process during the 2019 general elections.
"Big Chinese telecom companies like Xiaomi, Vivo, etc. incorporated thousands of shell companies in India in violation of PMLA/FEMA for illegally infusing foreign funds in India to further the anti-India conspiracy", the FIR stated.
As per the FIR, Purkayastha, along with Neville Roy Singham, Geeta Hariharan, and Gautam Bhatia (key person), conspired to create a legal community network in India to campaign for and defend legal cases against these Chinese telecom companies.
"NewsClick received foreign funds from Nevile Roy Singham, a resident of Shanghai, China, and an active member of the propaganda department of the Communist Party of China", the Delhi Police's FIR read.
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