By Muslim Mirror Staff
The Delhi Police Special Cell questioned several journalists associated with the online media outlet NewsClick on Tuesday, regarding a case registered under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against the organization. After hours of questioning, the journalists were released, but the NewsClick office was sealed by the authorities.
The journalists who underwent questioning included Urmilesh, Aunindyo Chakravarty, Abhisar Sharma, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, and historian Sohail Hashmi. Prabir Purkayastha, the founder and editor-in-chief of NewsClick, was brought to the portal’s south Delhi office in the presence of a forensic team before the office was sealed.
Thakurta, one of the journalists questioned, revealed that nine policemen arrived at his Gurugram residence at 6:30 in the morning. He stated, “I came with them voluntarily to the special cell of the Delhi Police. The same set of questions were asked over and over again… if I were an employee of Newsclick, I said ‘no, I’m a consultant’… After I came here I learnt that an FIR has been lodged apparently under the Unlawful Activities Preventions Act…”.
The Delhi Police Special Cell conducted simultaneous raids at 30 offices and residences of journalists associated with NewsClick, including former and current employees. Officials seized electronic evidence, laptops, mobile phones, pen drives, and took data dumps of hard disks from the NewsClick offices.
These actions were part of an investigation into the organization’s past and current news reports, including coverage of COVID-19 and the farmers’ protests. The raids, still ongoing, are based on a case registered on August 17 under UAPA and other sections of the Indian Penal Code.
The case invokes several sections of UAPA, along with sections 153(a) and 120(b) of the Indian Penal Code, relating to promoting enmity between different groups and being party to a criminal conspiracy.
The raids and questioning have sparked outrage among various organizations representing journalists, who see it as an attempt to stifle press freedom. The Press Club of India and the Network of Women in Media, India (NWMIndia), expressed their shock over the incidents.
NWMIndia tweeted, “Journalists, activists, and artists who speak truth to power are being unrelentingly harassed and persecuted by the government, while pliant and sycophantic media persons and media houses are being nurtured. This campaign to quell dissent has to stop.”
The Editors Guild of India (EGI) also voiced grave concerns over the raids and the detention of senior NewsClick journalists. EGI urged the state to follow due process and refrain from using draconian laws for press intimidation.
Responding to the developments, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur emphasized the independence of probe agencies, stating, “I need not justify the raid. If someone has done something wrong, probe agencies work on it… Nowhere is it written that if you have got money through illegal means or done something objectionable, then probe agencies cannot investigate that.”