Delhi police special cell questions Gautam Navlakha in NewsClick case

A team of the Delhi police special cell arrived in Mumbai on Saturday to question activist Gautam Navlakha in connection with the Newsclick foreign funding case. Navlakha is currently under house arrest in Navi Mumbai

NAVI MUMBAI: A team of the Delhi police special cell arrived in Mumbai on Saturday to question activist Gautam Navlakha in connection with the Newsclick foreign funding case. Navlakha is currently under house arrest in Navi Mumbai in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon violence case.

Navi Mumbai, India - Dec. 30, 2023:Special cell of Delhi Police have come down to Agroli Village to question Activists Gautam Navlakha at CBD Belapur in Navi Mumbai, India, on Saturday, December 30, 2023. (Photo by Bachchan Kumar/ HT PHOTO) (HT PHOTO)

Assistant commissioner of police Lalit Mohan Negi, also known as the encounter specialist of the Delhi police, and his team members interrogated Navlakha at the Comrade BT Ranadive Smriti Trust building in Agroli village at CBD Belapur. The session lasted for around three hours amid heavy police bandobast.

Although Negi refused to disclose anything about the purpose of his visit to Belapur, police sources said that Navlakha was questioned about his links with Newsclick founder and editor-in chief Prabir Purkayastha and about his alleged share in the company, PPK NewsClick Studio Pvt Ltd, which owns the portal.

The Delhi police special cell in August this year had registered an FIR under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against NewsClick, Purkayastha and American businessman Neville Roy Singham, alleging that substantial funds were sent by China to the web portal “to disrupt the sovereignty of India and cause disaffection against the country”.

The FIR mentioned that Purkayastha, Amit Sengupta, D Raghunandan, Bappaditya Sinha, Gautam Navlakha, Amit Chakravarti and Worldwide Media Holding LLC were shareholders of NewsClick. “It is learnt that Gautam Navlakha, who is the shareholder in NewsClick since its inception in the year 2018, remained involved in anti-Indian and unlawful activities such as actively supporting banned Naxal organisations,” it read. It further stated that Navlakha was associated with Purkayastha since 1991.

The FIR claimed that apart from Purkayastha, the Chinese funds were distributed to Navlakha and associates like activist Teesta Setalvad, her husband Javed Anand and some journalists. It was further alleged that Purkayastha conspired with the People’s Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS) to sabotage the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The Delhi police had questioned Purkayastha and his human resources department head Amit Chakravarty on October 3 in the case.

Navlakha is one of the 15 accused facing prosecution for his alleged Maoist links in the Elgar Parishad-Bhima Koregaon violence. The case was registered by the Vishrambag police in Pune on January 8, 2018, based on a complaint lodged by a local builder Tushar Damgude, alleging that members of the Communist Party of India (Maoist) incited violence by creating communal disharmony.

Damgude claimed that members of the Kabir Kala Manch, an alleged front organisation, spread hatred through provocative songs, plays and speeches delivered at the Elgar Parishad event at Shaniwar Wada on December 31, 2017, which triggered violence the next day at the historical site of Bhima Koregaon in Pune district and other parts of the state. One person was killed, and several were injured in the violence. In January 2020, the case was later transferred to the National Investigation Agency for further investigation.

When contacted, Navlakha’s partner Sahba Hussain said, “I was not with him at the time, as I am out presently. I hence do not have the gist of what has happened as yet. I will get to know only once I speak to him. But I understand the special cell team was there for over three hours to investigate the Newsclick issue.”