The Indian police on Tuesday raided the houses of several journalists associated with an independent news portal NewsClick, and seized their laptops and phones in a case pertaining to Chinese funding, India Today reported.

The searches were conducted by officers from the Special Cell of Delhi Police.

The Indian authorities alleged that the journalists associated with the website had secured illegal funding from China to spread its government’s propaganda in the country.

The news portal, in question, reports on a variety of issues in India including farmers’ protests, rape incidents, violence against Muslim and minorities, and has been critical of the Modi-led government and its policies.

The houses of NewsClick editor Prabir Purkayastha, journalists Abhisar Sharma, Aunindyo Chakravarty, and Bhasha Singh, satirist Sanjay Rajaura, and historian Sohail Hashmi were raided in a case registered on August 17 under various sections of the controversial Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

The law allows Indian authorities to designate someone as a terrorist and detain them without producing any evidence. It also makes it nearly impossible to secure bail and individuals are likely to spend months, sometimes years, in jail without being found guilty.

The case also invoked Sections 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

The case of foreign funding was initiated against the platform after the New York Times in early August alleged that NewsClick was funded by a network tied to US millionaire Neville Roy Singham, who lives in China, for pushing Chinese propaganda.

The Indian media reported officials saying that the news portal received around INR380 million from entities linked to China.

However, it was not the first instance when the news portal came under the radar as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) of India in February of 2021, searched NewsClick’s offices in a money laundering case.

The ED had claimed its probe showed that foreign remittances, allegedly totaling over INR770 million, had been received by NewsClick between 2018 and 2021, the Hindustan Times reported.

In the latest probe, the Indian authorities claimed to have also found email exchanges between NewsClick Director Prabir Purkayastha with various journalists along with Neville Roy Singham, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leaders such as Prakash Karat and rights activist Teesta Setalvad.

The authorities were carrying out searches at the website’s office in Delhi, news agency ANI reported. The report alleged that Singham worked closely with the “Chinese government media machine” and used his network of non-profit groups and shell companies to “finance its propaganda worldwide”.

PM Narendra Modi’s government has investigated several media outlets since he took power in 2014 for alleged financial impropriety and working against the sovereignty of the country. Reporters Without Borders, an advocacy group for journalists, has placed India at 161st place in its press freedom rankings this year.

Earlier in February, the Indian tax authorities raided BBC’s New Delhi offices after it aired a documentary on PM Modi’s actions during deadly sectarian riots in 2002, AFP reported.

Police sealed off the building and half a dozen officers were stationed outside the office to prevent people from entering or leaving.

A BBC employee based in the office told AFP that the tax raid was in progress and that officials were “confiscating all phones”.

“There is government procedure happening inside the office,” an official said, declining to disclose their department.

With input from agencies…