The Delhi Police's probe into operations of NewsClick, the online portal accused of being linked to Chinese entities, has reached Kerala too. A team of the Delhi Police on Friday raided the residence of former NewsClick employee Anusha Paul in Pathanamthitta district.
A three-member team recorded her statement and also seized her mobile phone and laptop, according to reports. Anusha, who worked as videographer with NewsClick, has also been asked to return to Delhi and appear before the police as soon as possible. She was visiting her maternal home in Kodumon in Kerala.
Speaking to reporters later, Anusha said she was also questioned about her ties with the CPI(M). She said that the Delhi Police asked her whether she knows the Delhi state secretary of the CPI(M), K.M. Tiwari. Anusha, a state committee member of the Delhi unit of the DYFI, called the raids a “witch-hunt” against journalists who had “raised their voice against the Narendra Modi-led government.”
According to reports, Anusha was asked a range of questions on her work on the farmers' protests, anti-NRC and CAA protests, and Covid-19 management of the Modi government.
According to the Delhi Police's FIR against NewsClick, a large amount of money came in from China and paid news were “intentionally peddled”. The portal's founder Prabir Purkayastha and human resources head Amit Chakravarthy were arrested in the case lodged under anti-terror law UAPA.
“...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 stated.
The Delhi Police on Tuesday raided over 80 locations in the Delhi in connection with the case. A total of 46 journalists and contributors to the NewsClick were questioned on Tuesday and their mobile phones and other electronic gadgets were seized.