In its FIR against NewsClick, Delhi police allege that a large amount of funds were routed from China in a circuitous and concealed manner, and that paid news was intentionally peddled criticizing domestic policies, development projects in India, and promoting, projecting, and defending Chinese government policies and programs. The department also provided information regarding Chinese mobile enterprises that allegedly formed hundreds of shell companies in India in violation of the PMLA/FEMA in order to illegally infuse foreign cash into the country in furtherance of this plot.
In a complaint obtained by News18, the Delhi police stated that "moreover they acted against the national interest by promoting and misleading false narrative about the domestic pharmaceutical industry and the policies and development initiatives of the democratically elected Indian government in cohorts with the Anti-National forces."
According to the department, NewsClick editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha plotted with the People's Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) to undermine the electoral process during the 2019 general elections. "Among those involved in this conspiracy are Battini Rao (Convenor, PADS), Dilip Simeon, Deepak Dhoulakia, Harsh Kapoor, Jamal Kidwai, Kiran Shaheen, Sanjay Kumar, Asit Das, and others." "Large amounts of funds were routed from China in a circuitous and camouflaged manner in furtherance of this conspiracy to disrupt Indian sovereignty and to cause disaffection against India, and paid news were intentionally peddled criticising domestic policies, development projects of India, and promoting, projecting, and defending policies and programs of the Chinese government," the FIR says.
People's Dispatch Portal, owned and maintained by M/S PPK NewsClick Studio Pvt Ltd, has reportedly been utilized for purposely promoting these false narratives through paid news in exchange for crores of rupees in illegally channeled foreign monies as part of the conspiracy, according to Delhi police.
"It has also been learned that large Chinese telecom companies such as Xiaomi, Vivo, and others established thousands of shell companies in India in violation of the PMLA/FEMA in order to illegally infuse foreign funds in India in furtherance of this conspiracy." Furthermore, Prabir Purkayastha, Shri Neville Roy Singham, Ms. Geeta Hariharan, and Shri Gautam Bhatia (key individuals) conspired to establish a Legal Community Network in India to "campaign for and vigorously defend legal cases against the aforementioned Chinese Telecom companies in exchange for benefits from these Chinese Companies," according to the FIR.
The Delhi police have claimed that by inciting discontent among the people, particularly farmers, against India's democratically elected government, they have created divisions and disharmony among various groups/classes of people as part of a larger criminal conspiracy with international ramifications.
"The accused have used a web of illegal transactions via an illegal and circuitous route involving several companies and others to illegally infuse foreign funds for the purpose of perpetrating the aforementioned acts through conspiracy." As a result, a complaint under Sections 13, 16, 17, 18, and 22C of the UAPA, as well as Sections 153A and 120B of the IPC, is being filed," according to the FIR.
STATEMENT BY NEWSCLICK
— NewsClick (@newsclickin) October 4, 2023
We want to state for the record:
1. Newsclick is an independent news website.
2. Our journalistic content is based on the highest standards of the profession.
3. Newsclick does not publish any news or information at the behest of any Chinese entity…
The Delhi police have also stated that secret inputs have been received that foreign funds in crores have been illegally infused in India by Indian and foreign entities hostile to India as part of a conspiracy to disrupt India's sovereignty and territorial integrity, to cause disaffection against India, and to threaten India's unity, integrity, and security.
According to the department, Gautam Navlakha, a shareholder in PPK NewsClick Studio Pvt Ltd since its inception in 2018, has been involved in anti-Indian and illegal activities such as actively supporting banned Naxal organizations and having an anti-national nexus with Gulam Nabi Fai, an agent of Pakistan's ISI.
"It was also learnt that Gautam Navlakha is associated with Prabir Purkayastha since 1991 when they incorporated Sagrik Process Analyst Pvt Ltd," the complaint stated. "It has also been learned that Prabir Purkayastha and his associates, namely Joseph Raj, Anoop Chakraborty (brother of Amit Chakraborty), and Bappaditya Sinha (promoter of Virtunet Systems Pvt Ltd.), have siphoned off such illegally routed foreign funds." It is also learned that the funds were distributed to Gautam Navlakha, Teesta Seetalwaad's colleagues Javed Anand, Tamara, Jibran, Urmilesh, Aratrika Halder, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Trina Shankar, Abhisar Sharma, and others."
According to the Delhi police, the secret inputs also revealed that Prabir Purkayastha, Neville Roy Singham, and some other Chinese employees of Singham's Shanghai-based company Starstream exchanged emails revealing their intent to show that Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh are not part of India. According to the FIR, such attempts by these individuals demonstrate their plot to push a notion, both worldwide and domestically, that Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh are disputed regions.
"Their attempts to tamper with India's northern borders and to depict Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh as not being parts of India on maps amount to an act intended to undermine India's unity and territorial integrity." "The accused have also conspired to disrupt supplies and services essential to the life of the community in India, as well as to aid in the damage and destruction of property by prolonging the farmers' protest through such illegal foreign funding," the Delhi police stated.
Prabir Purkayastha and NewsClick HR chief Amit Chakraborty have petitioned the Delhi High Court to have the FIR dismissed. The news source had previously issued a statement in which it denied the claims leveled against it.
According to officials, the police locked NewsClick's office in Delhi and questioned 46 suspects, while digital gadgets, including laptops and mobile phones, and papers were taken away for examination.
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