NewsClick editor Prabir Purkayastha was arrested by the Delhi police under the draconian UAPA on Tuesday, October 3, after officers conducted raids at homes of several journalists and commentators associated with the news outlet.
Amit Chakravarty, the HR head of the news portal, has also been arrested.
The latest crackdown comes days after a New York Times investigation alleged that the news portal had received funding from a network pushing Chinese propaganda.
An FIR was filed against NewsClick on 17 August under several sections (13, 16, 17, 18, and 22) of the draconian UAPA, along with 153(a) (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony) and 120 (b) (party to a criminal conspiracy other than a criminal conspiracy to commit an offence) of the Indian Penal Code.
The searches at the homes of journalists at 20-odd locations across Delhi-NCR, prompted protests from the media fraternity and Opposition parties, with they calling it a “crackdown on press freedom”.
“A total of 37 male suspects have been questioned at premises, 9 female suspects have been questioned at their respective places of stay and digital devices, documents etc. have been seized/collected for examination. The proceedings are still ongoing; so far, two accused, Prabir Purkayastha and Amit Chakravarty have been arrested,” NDTV quoted a source from Delhi Police as saying.
