Pathanamthitta: A team of Delhi police on Friday conducted a raid at journalist and former NewsClick employee Anusha Paul's Kerala residence near Kodumon in Pathanamthitta and seized her laptop and mobile phone.
The four-member team, after informing the Kerala Police, reached her home and recorded her statement.
Speaking to the media, Paul, who arrived at her ancestral home last week, said she was questioned about her association with NewsClick and the CPI(M).
"I was asked if I knew the Delhi state secretary of the CPI(M), K M Tiwari. Of course, I know him. I told them that. He is the state secretary of the CPI(M). I am a CPI(M) worker. I am a state committee member of the Delhi unit of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and its state treasurer," she said.
“The laptop and mobile phone were mine and did not belong to NewsClick. The Delhi Police officials told me it would be better that I return to Delhi and appear before them," said Paul who is a resident of Delhi.
She said the questions ranged from whether she reported on farmers' protest, anti-NRC-CAA protests, or about the COVID-19 management of the Union government.
"This is a witch-hunt to threaten the organisation and its employees who used to raise their voice against the Narendra Modi government and the RSS," Paul said.
She clarified that the Kerala Police was not part of the raid team.
The Special Cell of the Delhi Police arrested NewsClick founder and editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha and human resources department head Amit Chakravarty on Tuesday evening after a total of 46 journalists and contributors to the online news portal were questioned and their mobile phones and other electronic gadgets seized through the day.
The case against NewsClick follows secret intelligence inputs that foreign funds were allegedly illicitly introduced into India by individuals and entities hostile to the nation's interests. These funds were reportedly intended to disrupt the nation's unity, integrity, and security.
It is alleged that PPK NewsClick Studio Pvt Ltd. received fraudulent foreign funds in crores of rupees from Worldwide Media Holdings LLC, USA, and other entities over a short span of five years, starting from April 2018.
With inputs from agencies