I-T Raid On Offices Of 2 Online Media Portals In Delhi

New Delhi The Income Tax Department reportedly raided the offices of two online media portals – NewsClick and Newslaundry – in south Delhi on Friday morning.

According to a report published in The Wire, phones of all NewsClick employees who were in the office were turned off, and those working from home could not establish contact with their colleagues.

In February, the Enforcement Directorate had raided the offices of this web portal and editors’ residences. It was indicated that the probe was allegedly linked to suspected foreign funding. Media reports, however, said that the immediate trigger was the extensive coverage of the farmers’ protests by the media outlet as it had garnered several million views. The Delhi Union of Journalists condemned the raid.

“So far the raid is only at one office of Newslaundry. Financial records are being checked,” an employee was quoted as saying in the news report.

While the raid started around 11.40 am, some employees were allowed to leave the office around 3 pm, the report added.

This is the second I-T raid on the media organisation after 2014.

In July this year, the I-T department had raided premises linked to the Dainik Bhaskar Group and Bhaskar Samachar channel.