India raids homes of news channel founders

By Shuriah Niazi

NEW DELHI (AA) - A federal law enforcement agency raided the properties of co-chairpersons of India’s leading news channel NDTV on Monday for allegedly causing multi-million dollar losses to a private bank, according to media reports.

NDTV is one of the oldest news channels in the country that has been critical of the policies of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

This is not the first time the channel has faced the brunt of authorities. Earlier this year, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had imposed a day-long ban on the Hindi-language channel for allegedly violating coverage rules during the army’s counter-terrorism operation in northern Pathankot city; the ministry later reversed that order following protests by journalists.

The Central Bureau of Investigation, also known as CBI, searched the properties of Prannoy Roy in the capital New Delhi and northern Dehradun city for allegedly causing losses to the tune of $7.6 million to ICIC bank, The Press Trust of India reported.

A case was registered against Roy, his wife Radhika, who is also the co-chairwoman and co-founder of NDTV, and the RRPR Holdings company owned by them.

“RRPR, in which Mr. Roy and his wife are shareholders, is a holding company of NDTV" that had taken the multi-million-dollar loan "from ICICI Bank in October 2008,” The Hindu added.

The channel rejected the accusations and described the latest raids as an assault on free speech in India.

In a statement posted on its official website, NDTV said: “This morning, the CBI stepped up the concerted harassment of NDTV and its promoters based on the same old endless false accusations.

“NDTV and its promoters will fight tirelessly against this witch-hunt by multiple agencies. We will not succumb to these attempts to blatantly undermine democracy and free speech in India.

“We have one message to those who are trying to destroy the institutions of India and everything it stands for: we will fight for our country and overcome these forces.”

New Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also condemned the raid.

"It's an attempt to silence independent and anti-establishment voices,” Kejriwal tweeted.