An Indian crime investigating agency raided the office of an online news portal and the home of its founder, according to people familiar with the matter, as a crackdown intensifies against a media outlet critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Officials from the Central Bureau of Investigation raided NewsClick’s office and founder Prabir Purkayastha’s home in New Delhi on Wednesday morning, said the people who asked not to be identified as the matter is sensitive. The agency filed a case against the media outlet on allegations of improper foreign funding, they added.
The Press Trust of India first reported on the raid. This second round comes after local police searched the NewsClick office and homes of reporters last week. Purkayastha and another employee were arrested under sweeping anti-terrorism laws and have remained under custody since.
India has used investigative agencies and a raft of laws, including anti-terrorism, to intimidate and punish reporters since Modi took office nearly a decade ago. The South Asian nation fell to 161st of 180 countries and territories in a 2023 press freedom ranking by Reporters Without Borders, a press advocacy group.
A CBI spokesman declined to comment. India previously accused NewsClick of having funding ties to China, which it denies.
NewsClick came into prominence two years ago with its reporting of the farmer protests against government plans to liberalize the agriculture sector, the clashes between the Hindus and Muslims in Delhi, and India’s response to the pandemic. In 2021, the authorities raided NewsClick’s office and the homes of seven staff members for what they described as improper foreign investments.
The online publication called the allegations at the time “misleading, unfounded and without basis in fact or law.”
This year, the New York Times described NewsClick as an organization allegedly being used for Chinese propaganda overseas. India’s Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said at the time the media outlet was being funded by Beijing.