News portal NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha and its HR head Amit Chakravarty were sent to police custody by a Delhi court till November 2 in a case lodged under the anti-terror law UAPA over allegations that the news portal received money to spread pro-China propaganda, reports PTI.
The accused were produced in the court on the expiry of their 15-day judicial custody.
The duo were arrested on October 3 by the Delhi Police’s Special cell, following raids across 88 locations in Delhi and seven in other states.
Earlier, the police requested the court on October 10 to send the accused persons to jail and had submitted that the agency could ask for their further custodial interrogation later.
Police on Wednesday told the judge that it wanted to confront the accused with some protected witnesses and also some devices which were examined and the data that has been extracted.
Advocate Arshdeep Singh Khurana, appearing for Purkayastha, opposed the police remand plea claiming that there was no new ground in the application.
The Delhi Police’s FIR had stated that large amount of funds to the news portal came from China to “disrupt the sovereignty of India” and cause disaffection against the country, further alleging that Purkayastha conspired with a group — People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) — to sabotage the electoral process during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.