Police in New Delhi have arrested the editor of a news website and one of its administrators after raiding the homes of journalists working for the site, which has been critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist-led government.
A security person stands guard outside the office of Delhi Police's Special Cell in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. Indian police raided the offices of a news website thats under investigation for allegedly receiving funds from China, as well as the homes of several of its journalists, the latest in a series of investigations into the finances of independent media in India.
Nalwa said at least 46 people were questioned during the raids and their devices, including laptops and cellphones, and documents were taken away for examination.NewsClick was founded in 2009 and is seen as a rare Indian news outlet willing to criticize Modi. It was also raided by Indian financial enforcement officials in 2021, after which a court blocked the authorities from taking any “coercive measures” against the website.
Media watchdogs including the Committee to Protect Journalists denounced the arrests and raids and said they were part of an intensifying crackdown on independent media under Modi. over accusations of tax evasion a few days after it broadcast a documentary in Britain that examined Modi’s role in anti-Muslim riots in 2002.
Reporters Without Borders, an advocacy group for journalists, ranked India 161st in itsthis year, writing that the situation has deteriorated from “problematic” to “very bad.”
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