NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha, HR head sent to 7-day police custody

NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and HR head Amit Chakravarty, arrested in a case filed under the anti-terror law UAPA following allegations the portal received money for pro-China propaganda, were sent to seven days of police remand, officials said on Wednesday.

Police on Tuesday searched for more than 30 locations, questioned several journalists in connection with the case and arrested Purkayastha and Chakravarty.

A senior officer said both were produced before a court which remanded them in police custody.

Police sealed NewsClick’s office in Delhi on Tuesday. Officials earlier said 46 ”suspects” were questioned and digital devices, including laptops and mobile phones, and documents were taken away for examination.

The searches began in the morning and were concentrated in the Delhi-NCR.

Among those questioned were journalists Urmilesh, Aunindyo Chakravarty, Abhisar Sharma, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta as well as historian Sohail Hashmi, satirist Sanjay Rajoura and D Raghunandan of the Centre for Technology & Development.

After being questioned for over six hours, they were allowed to go.