Delhi Police raids Kerala residence of former NewsClick employee

The Delhi police on Friday conducted a raid and seized the laptop and phone of Malayali journalist and former NewsClick employee Anusha Paul from her residence near Kodumon.

After a three-member team of the Delhi Police recorded her statement and confiscated her electronic devices, Paul told the media that she was questioned about her association with NewsClick and the CPI(M).

She said the questions ranged from whether she reported on farmers’ protest, anti-NRC-CAA protests, or about the Covid-19 management of the Union government.

“This is a witch-hunt to threaten the organisation and its employees who used to raise voice against the Narendra Modi government and the RSS,” Paul said.

Paul was staying in Kerala for the treatment of a close family member.

She told the media that the Delhi Police asked her whether she knows the Delhi state secretary of the CPI(M), K M Tiwari.

“Of course, I know him. I told them that. He is the state secretary of the CPI(M). I am a CPI(M) worker. I am a state committee member of Delhi unit of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and its state treasurer,” she said.

She added that the Kerala Police was not part of the raid team.

“Later local police came and said they were not aware of the raids,” she claimed.

The Special Cell of the Delhi Police arrested NewsClick founder and editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha and human resources department head Amit Chakravarty on Tuesday evening, after a total of 46 journalists and contributors to the online news portal were questioned and their mobile phones and other electronic gadgets seized through the day.