New Delhi: The Delhi Police Special Cell is producing independent news website Newsclick's editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha and human relations head Amit Chakravarty, accused of 'propagating Chinese propaganda', before a local court on Tuesday, sources said. The Delhi Police may seek to extend the police remand of the two accused in the case as their remand ends today.
The two were arrested in large scale raids by the Delhi Police Special Cell on the premises of Newsclick on Oct 3. The Delhi Police also seized more than 300 electronic gadgets from the office of NewsClick and residences of its journalists. The devices have been sent to the FSL (forensic science lab) for examination and extraction of any content related to the matter.
Also read: NewsClick case: Delhi HC reserves order on plea by portal founder against arrest in UAPA case
Since the arrest of Purkayastha and Chakravarty, the Special Cell of the Delhi Police has questioned about 46 journalists and contributors including nine women journalists with 25 being questioned for the second time in the case. On Oct 4, day after the arrest of the two accused in the case, the Delhi Police, in its remand copy submitted before the court while producing Purkayastha and Chakravarty, claimed that the analysis of the e-mails “shows that Neville Roy Singham, Prabir Purkayastha, and Amit Chakravarty were in direct touch with each other and were found to be discussing how to create a map of India without Kashmir and to show Arunachal Pradesh as disputed area”.
"To achieve the above objective the accused persons in the guise of foreign funds received money of more than Rs 115 crore in the companies named as PPK NewsClick, GSPAN India, JJ Enterprises, Virtunet System," read the remand copy. The Delhi Police had booked the two arrested accused under sections 13, 16, 17,18 and 22 of the anti-terror Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act invoked and sections 153A (promoting enmity between two groups) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC on August 17.
