NewsClick probe: Delhi Police finds 5 ‘potential witnesses’ against founder Prabir Purkayastha, informs court

“The IO has informed the court that the case is sensitive in nature and has international ramifications… The lives and liberties of these witnesses are in danger… In such a scenario, the IO has requested to keep secret and confidential the identity of all the witnesses,” a source said.

“So far, police have questioned around 60 people associated with NewsClick,” the source said, adding that these included journalists.

Reached for comment, Delhi Police spokesperson Suman Nalwa declined to speak on the matter.

On August 17, Delhi Police registered an FIR against Purkayastha, rights activist Gautam Navlakha, placed under house arrest in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist link case, and US-based businessman Neville Roy Singham.

The FIR against Purkayastha includes allegations of attempts to show Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh as “not parts of India”; discrediting the government’s fight against Covid-19; funding the farmers’ agitation and “putting up a spirited defence of legal cases” against Chinese telecom companies.

On October 3, Purkayastha and NewsClick’s HR head Amit Chakraborty were arrested after the Special Cell conducted searches across Delhi-NCR and Mumbai on the premises of over 40 journalists, technicians and contributors associated with the news portal.

“Police are also likely to send over 400 electronic devices – cell-phones, hard disks, pen drives to the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-in), the national nodal agency, CFSL, Hyderabad, CFSL, Chandigarh and CFSL, Delhi,” the source said.

The FIR alleged that the “accused have also conspired to disrupt supplies and services essential to the life of community in India and abet damage and destruction of property by protraction of farmers’ protest through such illegal foreign funding.”

It also mentioned “secret inputs have been received that foreign funds in crores have been infused illegally in India by Indian and foreign entities inimical to India in pursuance of a conspiracy with the intention to disrupt sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, to cause disaffection against India, and to threaten the unity, integrity, security of India”.