Funds came from China to disrupt India’s sovereignty: Delhi Police FIR against NewsClick

PTI, Oct 6, 2023, 2:39 PM IST

The Delhi Police, in an FIR filed under anti-terror law UAPA following allegations against news portal NewsClick, has alleged that a large amount of funds came from China in order to disrupt India’s sovereignty and cause disaffection against the country.

The Delhi Police served a copy of the FIR to the portal on Friday, a day after a city court directed it to do so.

According to the FIR, a copy of which is with PTI, Chinese telecom giants have floated thousands of shell companies in India.

”In furtherance of this conspiracy to disrupt the sovereignty of India and cause disaffection against India, a large amount of funds was routed from China in a circuitous and camouflaged manner and paid news were intentionally peddled, criticising domestic policies, development projects of India and promoting, projecting and defending policies and programmes of the Chinese government,” the FIR says.

It also alleges that the founder and editor-in-chief of NewsClick, Prabir Purkayastha, conspired with a group — People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) — to sabotage the electoral process during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Purkayastha and Amit Charavarty, the human resources department head at NewsClick, have been arrested by the Delhi Police.