NewsClick on Friday described the first information report against its founder and editor-in-chief Prabir Purkayastha and human resources head Amit Chakraborty as “untenable and bogus”.

Purkayastha and Chakraborty were arrested on Tuesday and booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, the country’s anti-terror law. This came on the day the police raided the homes of 46 journalists associated with NewsClick.

In the FIR registered on August 17, the police accused NewsClick of taking funds from China in a “circuitous and camouflaged manner” to disrupt the sovereignty of India. However, the police have not supported these claims with concrete evidence.

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The FIR was registered after The New York Times alleged in an August 5 report that the Indian news website had received money from American businessman Neville Roy Singham, who worked closely with the “Chinese government media machine” to spread its propaganda. The FIR describes Singham as an active member of the propaganda department of the Communist Party of China.

In its statement on Friday, the news publication noted that the FIR was provided only after a court order. It said that after receiving the FIR, the publication immediately moved the Delhi High Court to quash the case and seek the release of Purkayastha and Chakraborty from their “illegal police custody”.

NewsClick said that the “absurd nature” of the allegations shows that the proceedings are nothing but an attempt to muzzle the free press in India.

“As stated in previous NewsClick statements, NewsClick has not received any funding or instructions from China or Chinese entities,” it said. “Further, NewsClick has never committed or sought to encourage violence, secession or any illegal act in any manner whatsoever. A perusal of NewsClick’s coverage, which is freely available online, should be sufficient to indicate the veracity of NewsClick’s claims.”

The publication said that the Enforcement Directorate, the Economic Offences Wing, Delhi Police and the Income Tax Department have conducted investigations on the charges levelled in the FIR. But, NewsClick said, none of these investigations led to any chargesheets or complaints over the last three years.

“In fact, Prabir was granted interim protection in these investigations,” it said. “The latest FIR has been registered only to circumvent this protection and carry out illegal arrests under the draconian UAPA.”