Mohammed Zubair’s Alt News Got Donations From Pakistan, Syria: Delhi Police

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New Delhi: Delhi Police on Saturday urged the court to reject Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair’s bail plea, saying his company had received donations from Pakistan, Syria and other Gulf countries.

Counsel for the Delhi Police informed the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate that Pravda Media, the parent company of Alt News, of which Zubair is also a director, received over Rs 2 lakh through various transactions wherein either the mobile phone number or the IP address was of foreign countries.

“Donations are from Pakistan, Syria, so considering gravity, it’s not just a case of a simple tweet. The accused is Pravda Media director, he smartly deleted everything,” Delhi Police said, as quoted by ANI.

In light of these findings, Zubair should not be granted bail under any circumstances, police argued.

The court was also informed that the police has invoked new provisions — sections 120B (criminal conspiracy) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code and section 35 of the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act — against Zubair.

Earlier in the day, Delhi Police issued a statement with the analysis of a reply received from Razorpay, one of the payment gateways allegedly used for the foreign transactions under scrutiny.

It was revealed that there were various transactions in which either the mobile phone number was of outside India or the IP address was of foreign countries and cities, including Bangkok, Australia, Manama, North-Holland, Singapore, Victoria, New York, England, Riyadh Region, Sharjah, Stockholm, Abu Dhabi, Washington, Kansas, New Jersey, Ontario, California, Texas, Lower Saxony, Bern, Dubai, Scotland,” the police statement read.

A total of Rs 2,31,933 was received by Pravda Media through these transactions, it added.

Delhi Police arrested Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair on June 27 in a case related to an “objectionable tweet” he had posted in 2018. He was produced in a Delhi court on Saturday and police sought his 14-day judicial custody in the case.