On Tuesday, Delhi Police held up NewsClick writers Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and Urmilesh to the special cell offices in the national capital. Two senior police officials also are at the special cell premises.

Delhi police’s also undergoing raids at different premises linked to NewsClick under UAPA and other sections.

According to sources laptops, mobiles, diaries, and other seized articles were also brought by police to a special cell at the Lodhi Road office. The raids are being executed on a case registered on August 17th under UAPA and other sections of IPC, which include UAPA, 153A of IPC (promoting enmity between two groups), and 120 B of IPC (criminal conspiracy).
Counself for Urmilesh, Gaurav Yadav who also reached Delhi Police Special Cell office said he had no information on why the writer had been taken to the special cell office.

The residences of NewsClick writers Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and Urmilesh were also searched.

“Delhi Police landed at my home. Taking away my laptop and Phone,” Sharma wrote on X.

“Finally last tweet from this phone. Delhi police seized my phone,” Bhasha Singh also said on the micro-blogging website.

Congress spokesperson and permanent invitee to the CWC Gurdeep Sappal criticised the government for this action
“So the crackdown media and journalists is not just a matter of a instant causation. It is expression of the political philosophy of BJP/RSS, it represents the India they want to create surreptitiously” Sappal said in a post on X.

On August 5, The New York Times published an article titled “A US Tech Mogul Linked to a Global Web of Chinese Propaganda”, which alleged that NewsClick was part of a global network receiving funding from American millionaire Neville Roy Singham, who was purportedly closely associated with the Chinese government media.

Citing the report, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Singh Thakur asserted that the Congress, China and NewsClick had an “anti-India umbilical cord” and were pushing the agenda of the Communist Party of China through the website.

Two days after the Times report, NewsClick issued a statement in which it denied the allegations as baseless and lacking factual or legal support.