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Alt News says allegations of foreign funds bid to 'shut critical work we do'
It also dismissed allegations that individuals, including Zubair, associated with the organisation have received funds in their personal accounts.
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Fact-checking website Alt News on Monday rejected allegations of receiving funds from foreign sources made by the Delhi Police in the wake of an investigation against its co-founder Mohammed Zubair. Calling it an attempt to "shut it down," the company said, "these allegations are categorically false".
According to the charges brought by the Delhi police, Pravda Media, the parent organisation of Alt News, received over ₹2 lakh through various transactions where either the mobile phone number or the IP address was of foreign countries. "Our payment platform through which we receive donations does not allow receipt of funds from foreign sources, and we have received donations from Indian bank accounts only,” the news portal said in the statement.
"All the donations collected through these means go to the organisation's bank account," it also said.
It also dismissed allegations that individuals, including Zubair, associated with the organisation have received funds in their personal accounts. "The individuals associated with the organisation only get monthly remuneration," it said.
"All of this is an attempt to shut down the very critical work that we do, and we will fight this attempt to shut us down and come out on top," the statement read.
On Saturday, the Patiala House Court in Delhi sent Zubair for 14 days in custody. He was arrested by the Delhi Police on June 27 for "hurting religious sentiments" by a satirical tweet from 2018.
Denying bail to Zubair, the CMM took note of the three more sections added in the FIR against Zubair -- 120B (criminal conspiracy), 201 (disappearance of evidence) and section 35 of the Foreign Contribution Regulations Act (FCRA) violations -- and said that the “matter is at an initial stage of investigation”.
The court also rejected a plea seeking the sealing of Zubair’s electronic devices, asserting that it cannot be decided at this stage since the examination is still in progress. It said that nothing was put on record to show that the earlier mobile phone, from which the post was made, was lost.
