Large Amount of Funds Sneaked in from China, Paid News Peddled against India: Delhi Police FIR on NewsClick

Delhi police in its FIR against NewsClick has alleged that a large amount of funds was routed from China in a circuitous and camouflaged manner and paid news was intentionally peddled criticising domestic policies, development projects of India and promoting, projecting, and defending policies and programmes of the Chinese government. The department has also given details about Chinese mobile firms that allegedly incorporated thousands of shell companies in India in violation of PMLA/FEMA for illegally infusing foreign funds in India in furtherance of this conspiracy.

The Delhi police in its FIR, accessed by News18, has said 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.”

The department has alleged that NewsClick editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha conspired with the group People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) to sabotage the electoral process during the 2019 general elections. “The key individuals of this group who were involved in this conspiracy are Battini Rao (Convenor, PADS), Dilip Simeon, Deepak Dhoulakia, Harsh Kapoor, Jamal Kidwai, Kiran Shaheen, Sanjay Kumar, Asit Das, etc. In furtherance of this conspiracy to disrupt sovereignty of India and to cause disaffection against India, large amount of funds were routed from China in circuitous and camouflaged manner and paid news were intentionally peddled criticising domestic policies, development projects of India and promoting , projecting and defending policies and programmes of Chinese government,” the FIR says.

Delhi police has learnt that People’s Dispatch Portal, owned and maintained by M/S PPK NewsClick Studio Pvt Ltd, has allegedly been used for intentionally peddling these false narratives through paid news in lieu of crores of rupees in illegally routed foreign funds as part of the conspiracy.

“It is further learnt that big Chinese Telecom companies like Xiaomi, Vivo, etc. incorporated thousands of shell companies in India in violation of PMLA/FEMA for illegally infusing foreign funds in India in furtherance of this conspiracy. Further Prabir Purkayastha, Shri Neville Roy Singham, Ms. Geeta Hariharan, Shri Gautam Bhatia (key person) conspired to create a Legal Community Network in India to campaign for and put up spirited defense of legal cases against aforementioned Chinese Telecom companies in return for benefits by these Chinese Companies,” the FIR says.

The Delhi police has alleged that by inciting disaffection among the people, especially farmers, towards the democratically elected government of India, they have been creating divisions and disharmony among different groups/classes of people as a part of a larger criminal conspiracy having international ramifications.

“The accused have employed a web of illegal transactions through illegal and circuitous route using several companies etc to illegally infuse foreign funds for perpetrating aforementioned acts through conspiracy. Therefore, a case u/s 13,16,17,18 and 22C of UAPA, Section 153A,120B IPC be registered,” says the FIR.

The Delhi police has also said that secret inputs have been received that foreign funds in crores have been infused illegally in India by Indian and foreign entities inimical to India in pursuance of a conspiracy with the intention to disrupt the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India, to cause disaffection against India, and to threaten the unity, integrity, security of India.

According to the department, it was learnt that Gautam Navlakha, who is a shareholder in PPK NewsClick Studio Pvt Ltd since its inception in the year 2018, remained involved in anti-Indian and unlawful activities such as actively supporting banned Naxal organisations and having anti-national nexus with Gulam Nabi Fai who is an agent of ISI of Pakistan.

“It was also learnt that Gautam Navlakha is associated with Prabir Purkayastha since 1991 when they incorporated Sagrik Process Analyst Pvt Ltd,” the FIR added. “It has also been learnt that such illegally routed foreign funds have been siphoned off by Prabir Purkayastha and his associates namely Joseph Raj, Anoop Chakraborty (brother of Amit Chakraborty), Bappaditya Sinha ( promoter of Virtunet Systems Pvt Ltd.). It is also learnt that aforementioned funds were distributed to Gautam Navlakha, associates of Teesta Seetalwaad namely Javed Anand, Tamara, Jibran, Urmilesh, Aratrika Halder, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Trina Shankar, Abhisar Sharma, etc.”

The secret inputs also revealed, according to the Delhi police, that Prabir Purkayastha, Neville Roy Singham, and some other Chinese employees of Singham-owned Shanghai-based company Starstream exchanged emails, which expose their intent to show that Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh are not part of India. Such attempts by these persons reveal their conspiracy to peddle a narrative, both globally and domestically, that Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh are disputed territories, the FIR says.

“Their attempts to tinker with the northern borders of India and to show Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh as not parts of India in maps amount to an act intended towards undermining the unity and territorial integrity of India. The accused persons have also conspired to disrupt supplies and services essential to the life of community in India and abet damage and destruction of property by protraction of farmers’ protest through such illegal foreign funding,” the Delhi police said.

Prabir Purkayastha and NewsClick HR head Amit Chakraborty have moved the Delhi High Court, seeking to quash the FIR. The news outlet earlier issued a statement, denying the charges levelled against it.

The police sealed NewsClick’s office in Delhi, officials said, adding that 46 suspects were questioned and digital devices, including laptops and mobile phones, and documents were taken away for examination.