The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday lodged an FIR against news portal NewsClick, alleging the news website violated foreign funding regulations under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. The probe agency carried out raids at two locations linked to the website's founder and editor Prabir Purkayastha on Wednesday morning. A team of agency officials searched the residence and office of the NewsClick founder, who was recently arrested by the Delhi Police in a case under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has alleged NewsClick had received illegal funding from China, routed through the US. The ED had searched NewsClick’s premises in February 2021 as part of its probe into foreign remittances allegedly received between 2018 and 2021. Meanwhile, the news website has denied the allegations, stating it “does not publish any news or information at the behest of any Chinese entity or authority, directly or indirectly… does not propagate Chinese propaganda on its website”. Last week, the Delhi Police Special Cell carried out searches at over 50 locations linked to the news portal, its employees and contributors. Apart from Purkayastha, the head of its human resource department, Amit Chakravarty was also taken into custody. An earlier investigation by the New York Times had alleged the Indian news portal was among the media organisations being funded by a network tied to US millionaire Neville Roy Singham for pushing Chinese propaganda.
