NewsClick case: Asked if reported on anti-CAA, farm stir, says filmmaker Sohail Hashmi

Samad Hoque

New Delhi, October 3

Writer, filmmaker and heritage walk leader Sohail Hashmi, whose residence was raided by the Delhi Police, told The Tribune that six police personnel came to his house on Tuesday morning and questioned him for two hours.

“The police came around quarter past six in the morning and said they had a search warrant. They showed me the warrant after I insisted on seeing it. It was then that I realised the case was connected to NewsClick,” he said.

He said he was questioned on a range of issues, including whether he reported the 2020-21 farmers’ agitation, protests over the 2020 anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens and the 2020 Delhi riots. “I told them since I am not a reporter, I had not covered these events in a journalistic manner. They questioned me about my family and work and also asked about my association with NewsClick,” he said.

Hashmi said the police listed 40 people and asked him if he knew any of them.

“I told them I knew some of them, including NewsClick founder Prabir Purkayastha, as they had been my batchmates in Jawaharlal Nehru University some 40-50 years ago, and also said I did not know Singham,” said Hashmi. The cops, he said, quizzed him on money laundering and whether he had contributed or received any money from NewsClick. “I told the police I did not have any connection with the portal except having appeared in a few discussions on it. I also told them I did not receive any money for the interviews I gave,” Hashmi said.