Deven Mohanty
The document claims “foreign funds (were) fraudulently infused by Neville Roy Singham”, an American millionaire believed to have close ties to the Chinese government’s media machine.
NewsClick, the news website being investigated for alleged connections to China-linked entities to broadcast Chinese propaganda, has been accused of a conspiracy to “disrupt sovereignty and territorial integrity of India”, according to a copy of the FIR accessed by NDTV this morning.
The FIR names NewsClick, the website’s founder, Prabir Purkayastha, and its human resources head, Amit Chakravarty, as well as journalists and civil society activists, and accuses them of trying “to cause disaffection against India” and “threaten the unity, integrity, (and) security” of the country.
“… secret inputs have been received that foreign funds in crores have been illegally infused in India by Indian and Foreign entities inimical to India… Since April 2018, such fraudulent funds in crores of rupees have been received by M/s PPK NewsCLick Studio Pvt Ltd through illegal means during a short span of five years from M/s Worldwide Media Holdings LLC and others…” the FIR states.
The document claims “foreign funds (were) fraudulently infused by Neville Roy Singham”, an American millionaire believed to have close ties to the Chinese government’s media machine.
The funds were “routed from China in circuitous and camouflaged manner and paid news were intentionally… criticising domestic policies, development projects of India…”, the FIR claims.
Mr Singham, who is now based in China’s Shanghai, was also named in a report by The New York Times, which claims he has a worldwide financial network supporting Chinese propaganda.
The FIR – which accuses NewsClick, Mr Purkayastha, and others of acting to “undermine the unity and territorial integrity of India” – links them to a multitude of topics, including the 2020/21 farmers protest and others for which the government was criticised by the opposition and social activists.
According to the FIR, the site and the accused also had a “conspiracy to peddle a narrative… that Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh are disputed territories…”, “propagated false narratives to discredit efforts of Indian government to contain COVID-19 pandemic”, and sabotaged the 2019 election that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP won with a thumping majority.
Delhi Court On NewsClick FIR Copies
On Thursday a Delhi court allowed Mr Purkayastha and Mr Chakravartya, both arrested under multiple sections of the anti-terror law UAPA, to get copies of the FIR. The request had been opposed by Delhi Police, which said, “We have already provided grounds for arrest…” they said.
Mr Purkayastha was arrested late Tuesday night, hours after Delhi Police conducted raids on NewsClick offices and the homes of several journalists associated with the website.
The raids came a day after the report by The New York Times, which alleged ₹ 38 crore had been received by NewsClick from China-linked entities. Sources had then told NDTV ₹ 29 crore was allegedly received as fees for “export services” and ₹ 9 crore as FDI through “inflated” share prices.
The raids came a day after the report by The New York Times, which alleged ₹ 38 crore had been received by NewsClick from China-linked entities. Sources had then told NDTV ₹ 29 crore was allegedly received as fees for “export services” and ₹ 9 crore as FDI through “inflated” share prices.
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