[File photo]
New Delhi: Press Club of India Tuesday October 03, 2023 said it was deeply concerned by the Delhi Police raids on journalists who are working for or in some way associated with NewsClick, a popular news portal.
“The Press Club of India is deeply concerned about the multiple raids conducted on the houses of journalists and writers associated with #Newsclick (sic)”, the apex body of journalists in India wrote on social media platform X originally launched as Twitter.
The Press Club of India also expressed solidarity with the journalists who are raided by the Delhi Police personnel.
“The PCI stand in solidarity with the journalists and demand the government to come out with details”, it said.
Delhi Police early in the morning at around 08 am Tuesday raided at 35 locations in New Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad.
Among the journalists whose homes are raided by the Delhi Police Special Team are NewsClick Founder Prabir Purkayastha, Sanjay Rajoura, Bhasha Singh, Urmilesh, Abhisar Sharma, Aunindyo Chakraborty and Sohail Hashmi.
“Delhi police landed at my home. Taking away my laptop and Phone”, Abhisar Sharma wrote on X at 08:05 am.
Bhasha Singh also informed about the Police raid on X. She also said her smartphone has been seized by the Police.
“Finally last tweet from this phone. Delhi police seizure my phone”, she wrote at 08:41 am Tuesday.
There are also reports that senior journalist Urmilesh and renowned anchor Abhisar Sharma have been taken into custody and taken to Special Cell Office for questioning.
There is no confirmation or official statement made by the Delhi Police on these raids or detention of any journalist. However, a video released by the news agency ANI shows Urmilesh being taken by the Special Cell in a car.
According to the reports, Delhi Police raids today are based on the input shared by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) “indicating unlawful activities by the suspects” and alleged violations in foreign funding.
Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate had alleged that the news portal received Rs.38 crore funding from entities linked to China. The ED reportedly said it was being probed how this amount was used.
Earlier in February 2021, the ED had raided NewsClick office in South Delhi, and the residences of NewsClick Founder Editor Prabir Purkayastha, another Editor, Pranjal Pandey and five staff members from the editorial and accounts teams.
The raids came after a report claimed NewsClick as part of a global network receiving financial support from American billionaire Neville Roy Singham, allegedly for the dissemination of Chinese propaganda.
For all the latest News, Opinions and Views, download ummid.com App.
Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.
