In connection with an inquiry into the financing of the news website NewsClick, police in India have searched the residences of a number of well-known reporters and authors.
Tuesday saw the searches in Delhi’s money, and those who were raided had their laptops and mobile devices seized.
Leaders are reportedly looking into claims that NewsClick received money illegally from China, a claim it refutes.
The action, according to reviewers, is a deliberate assault on media freedom.
Prabir Purkayastha, the editor of NewsClick, Abhisar Sharma, Aunindyo Chakravarty, Bhasha Singh, well-known comedian Sanjay Rajaura, and writer Sohail Hashmi are reportedly among those who have been raided. They have been interrogated at a police depot, including some of them.
Mr. Sharma confirmed the growth on X( previously Twitter ) and claimed that the officers had taken his phone and laptop. The authorities have not yet commented on the attacks.
Officers had seized Ms. Singh’s mobile, she added in a letter.
According to information source ANI, searches were also being conducted at the webpage Delhi business.
A New York Times report claimed that NewsClick had received funding from an United businessman to distribute” Chinese propaganda,” and studies indicate that the attacks are related to a situation that was filed against the website in August.
According to the report, Neville Roy Singham collaborated closely with the” Chinese state media equipment” and used his system of shell companies and non-profit organizations to” finance its advertising worldwide.”
A case was filed on August 17 and the police used UAPA, a strict anti-terrorism legislation that makes it nearly impossible to obtain parole, to prosecute the site and its journalists. NewsClick has vehemently refuted all of the accusations.
The government has been looking into economic improperness at a number of media outlets since Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014, which has raised concerns about media freedom in the largest politics in history.
India is ranked 161st in the press freedom positions this year by the journalist advocacy group Reporters Without Borders. It stated that the country’s situation has changed from” problematic” to” very bad” and compared it to Tajikistan( at 153rd ) and Turkey( at 165th ).
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