The online news portal NewsClick is under police investigation for allegedly propagating Chinese propaganda in India through the portal, whose main headquarter in South Delhi has been raided along with 100 other offices on Tuesday, October 5. The Delhi Police arrested NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and its human resources department head Amit Chakraborty on Tuesday, but the company rejected all the allegations on Wednesday through an official statement.
While the Enforcement Directorate investigation has alleged that the news portal has been receiving illegal funds from US businessman Neville Roy Singham to spread Chinese propaganda, the Delhi Police have confiscated various journalists’ mobile phones and laptops and raided their houses to collect devices.
NewsClick has declined any connection with Neville. Roy Singham, currently residing in Shanghai, said in the statement, “NewsClick does not take directions from Neville Roy Singham regarding the content published on its website.” According to various reports from the New York Times investigation, Singham has a global financial business from Chicago to Shanghai. The CEO of ThoughtWorks, Singham, has used charities from non-profit organizations in America to fund Chinese ideas in Southeast Asian countries like Hong Kong, Taiwan, Xinjiang, and India.
NewsClick is one of the publications Singham is said to have supported. NewsClick has been charged with accepting funding from Singham’s organizations and publishing content that promotes China’s interests and jeopardizes India’s security and sovereignty.
As per media reports, Navelli Roy Singham is an American millionaire and has strong ties with the Chinese government, the Communist Party of China, as he has been seen attending various events organized by Chinese media outlets such as China Global Television Network (CGTN) and China Radio International (CRI).
Singham, son of Sri Lankan political scientist and historian Archibald Wickeramaraja Singham, founded ThoughtWorks in 1993. A software company that provided digital transformation services globally, he later sold ThoughtWorks in 2017. He is also known for his political views on issues like open source software, anti-war activism, and environmentalism.