The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which on Tuesday conducted searches at the residence and offices of Teesta Setalvad, claimed to have found papers supporting the allegations against the civil rights activist, who is accused of violating the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).
According to officials, documents recovered from Setalvad's office show that her company Sabrang Communications and Publishing had received funds from international organisation Ford Foundation, which might be asked to join the investigation. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had said Setalvad's organisation was not registered to receive foreign funds.
The agency is investigating funds received by Sabrang communications between 2004 and 2014.
"The CBI team recovered some documents which support the allegations," said CBI spokesperson Kanchan Prasad.
The MHA had filed an official complaint against Setalvad, accusing her of receiving funds from abroad without taking prior permission from the MHA. Following the complaint, the CBI on July 7 had registered a case in the matter and named Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand as accused.
Anand and Gulam Mohammed Peshimam, both directors in the firm based in Mumbai are also being probed; CBI officers told dna that searches were underway at their residences till late Tuesday evening.
Officers said the team was still present at the four spots, searching for more documents, and added that more searches may be carried out if "the need arises".
The searches are in connection with a case filed against the rights activist in Gujarat where she is accused of misappropriating funds collected for her NGO, which has been at the forefront of helping victims of communal riots in the state. Setalvad, who has been vocal against the Modi government, has worked with thousands of victims of riots which hit the state more than a decade ago.
She has called the search a political one, accusing the government of starting a vendetta against her.
"The CBI has taken the same documents that we had voluntarily on inspection given the MHA (FCRA dept). Over 25,000 pages of documentary evidence has been given to the Gujarat Police. When they could not succeed with the bizaree and desperate attempts to gain custody (February 2015), it was the Guj Government Home Department that wrote to the MHA and the current round of the persecutions began," said Teesta Setalvad in a statement.
"Its is shameful political vendetta. The Zakia Jafri case begins its final hearings on July 27. The Naroda Patiya appeals (Kodnani and Bajrangi) are being heard in the Guj high Court tomorrow. This is nothing but a bid to subvert the cause of public justice and ensure that no justice happens in these cases," she added.
