A Delhi court extended the police custody of NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and the human resources department head, Amit Chakravarty, until November 2 on Wednesday. This case, filed under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, alleges that the news portal received funds to promote pro-China propaganda.
The accused appeared before the court following the conclusion of their 15-day judicial custody, which had been granted earlier. On October 10, the police requested the court to remand the accused to jail, with the possibility of seeking further custodial interrogation at a later time.
During Wednesday's proceedings, the police informed the judge of their intention to question the accused in the presence of protected witnesses and to examine specific devices and extracted data as part of the investigation.
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Advocate Arshdeep Singh Khurana, appearing for Purkayastha, opposed the police remand plea claiming that there was no new ground in the application.
The Special Cell of Delhi Police had arrested Purkayastha and Chakravarty on October 3.
According to the FIR, a large amount of funds to the news portal came from China to "disrupt the sovereignty of India" and cause disaffection against the country.
It also alleged Purkayastha conspired with a group -- People's Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) -- to sabotage the electoral process during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Raids were conducted at 88 locations in Delhi and seven in other states on October 3 on the suspects named in the FIR and those that surfaced in the analysis of data, police said.
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Around 300 electronic gadgets were also seized from the offices of NewsClick and residences of the journalists who were examined.
Following the raids, 46 individuals, including nine female journalists, were questioned by the Special Cell in Delhi and NCR.
