Delhi Police raids premises linked to NewsClick, no arrests made so far

New Delhi: Delhi Police on Tuesday morning raided different premises including houses of journalists linked to NewsClick.

However, Delhi Police sources said that no arrests have been made so far.

The journalists linked to NewsClick whose houses were raided by Delhi Police are: Newsclick editor Prabir Purkayastha and writer Githa Hariharan, Bhasha Singh, Urmilesh, Abhisar Sharma, Aunindyo Chakravarty, Sohail Hashmi, and Sanjay Rajaura.

YouTuber and journalist Abhisar Sharma posted on X that Delhi Police has taken away his phone and laptop.

Delhi police landed at my home. Taking away my laptop and Phone...

— Abhisar Sharma (@abhisar_sharma) October 3, 2023

Newslaundry co-founder Abhinandan Sekhri also posted on X about a similar raid on comic and satirist Sanjay Rajaura’s house.

Delhi police come to comic and satirist Sanjay Rajaura’s house. Forcibly take his phone and lap top for “investigation”.

— Abhinandan Sekhri (@AbhinandanSekhr) October 3, 2023

The premises of NewsClick and its editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha were raided by the Enforcement Directorate in September, 2021. It, last year, attached a flat worth Rs 4.52 crore, located in south Delhi's Saket area, linked to Purkayastha apart from fixed deposits worth Rs 41 lakh as part of the investigation.

In August, a New York Times report claimed that Newsclick was part of a global network that received funding from Neville Roy Singham, who allegedly works closely with the Chinese government media machine. 

Following this, X, formerly Twitter, suspended NewsClick's account @newsclickin on Aug 12. The X account was restored later.