NEW DELHI: India’s federal investigating agency — CBI — raided the properties of NDTV founder Prannoy Roy on Monday over an alleged loan default, and the news channel called it a witch-hunt.

Reports said CBI sleuths searched the office and homes of Prannoy Roy and his wife Radhika in connection with an “alleged bank fraud”.

The news channel denied the charge. “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,” the statement said.

“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,” NDTV said.

NDTV is one of a very few TV channels that are periodically critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. The raids came within days of a snub the channel delivered to a BJP spokesperson who was asked to leave the show after he accused NDTV of nurturing an anti-Hindutva agenda.

NDTV has wavered between hard nationalism, flirting with power brokers and keeping up a secular profile. Its Hindi news channel runs the most watched news programme critical of Hindutva.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2017