Journalists Urmilesh, Aunindyo Chakravarty, Abhisar Sharma, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, along with historian Sohail Hashmi, underwent questioning but were subsequently released in the evening after extensive inquiries for hours.
During the questioning at Special Cell police station in Lodhi Colony, the police presented them with a list of 25 inquiries encompassing various topics, such as their international trips, involvement in protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act at Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, and participation in the farmers’ agitation, as per sources.
Notably, no arrests have been made during the ongoing searches primarily focused on the Delhi-NCR region.
In another development, Prabir Purkayastha, the founder and editor-in-chief, was brought to the portal’s south Delhi office in the presence of a forensic team.
Simultaneously, officials from the Delhi Police Special Cell sealed the ‘NewsClick’ office in Delhi.
Sources indicate that the searches at various locations linked to NewsClick were conducted based on a case registered on August 17 under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) and other sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), including Section 153A (promoting enmity between groups) and Section 120B (criminal conspiracy).
A source told IANS that section 16 (Terrorist Act), section 17 (raising funds for terrorist acts), section 18 (Conspiracy) and section 22 C (Offences by Companies) of the UAPA have been invoked in the FIR.
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