NewsClick case: Delhi Police team goes to Mumbai to question Gautam Navlakha

A Delhi Police team has gone to Mumbai to question activist Gautam Navlakha in connection with the probe into news portal NewsClick's alleged foreign fundings and anti-India activities, an official said on Saturday.

Navlakha will be questioned at his residence in Navi Mumbai's Agroli, an official said, adding that the team is led by an assistant commissioner of police (ACP)-level officer.

Navlakha, who was on house arrest, was granted bail on 19 December in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case.

In August, the special cell registered an FIR under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against NewsClick, alleging that a large amount of funds were sourced to it from China to "disrupt the sovereignty of India" and cause "disaffection against the country".

The investigating agency arrested the portal's founder and editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha and human resources department head Amit Chakravarty on 3 October. They are currently in judicial custody.

The FIR claimed that Chinese funds were allegedly distributed to activist Gautam Navlakha and associates of activists Teesta Seetalvad, her husband and Javed Anand, and journalists Urmilesh, Aratrika Halder, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and Abhisar Sharma, and others.

Navlakha has been associated with Purkayastha since 1991 and is also a shareholder of PPK NewsClick Studio Private Limited since 2018, according to the FIR.

It also alleged that Purkayastha conspired with a group — People's Alliance for Democracy and Secularism — to sabotage the electoral process during the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.