Cong dubs searches at journalists' residences as 'distraction tactics' by govt after Bihar caste survey report

New Delhi: Congress on Tuesday slammed the BJP-led Centre after the searches at the premises of several journalists in Delhi, dubbing the action as “distraction tactic”, and said that the raids come as a fresh diversion from the explosive findings of caste survey in Bihar and the growing demand for caste census across the country.

In a post on X, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said, “Ever since the explosive figures of caste census of Bihar came out yesterday, the demand for caste census is gaining momentum in the entire country. (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi is losing his sleep.

“When questions from outside syllabus come, a weapon is brought out to divert people's attention from the issue. The action being taken against the contributing journalists of NewsClick since this morning is part of this (distraction) course,” Khera, who is also the member of the Congress Working Committee and the Chairman of the Media and Publicity department said.

The remarks from the Congress leader came after the Delhi Police’s Special Cell on Tuesday morning carried out searches at more than 30 locations in the national capital on the premises of NewsClick as well as the residences of its journalists, after the media outlet was accused of receiving funds from China.

However, no arrests have been made so far.

During the raid, the Special Cell had also seized electronic evidence, laptops, mobile phones, pen drives and also took data dumps of hard disks from the NewsClick office and the journalists associated with the organisation, including Bhasha Singh, Abhisar Sharma and Sanjay Rajoura among others.

The residences of NewsClick writers Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and Urmilesh were also searched.