FILE photo: Activist Teesta Setalvad
The Central Bureau of Investigation or CBI today raided the home and office of activist Teesta Setalvad, who has been accused of illegally receiving funds from abroad.
A team of 16 CBI officers carried out the raids in Mumbai. The search was on till late in the night. Ms Setalvad said she did not understand why the raids had been ordered when she had written to the CBI offering full cooperation with their inquiry.
"This is vendetta by the BJP. They are trying to humiliate us," she told NDTV.
"The Vyapam scam has killed 60-odd people, yet the CBI is busy with this," she added, referring to the admission and recruitment scandal in Madhya Pradesh, which has seen an unusual number of deaths since 2012.
Last week, the CBI registered a case against Ms Setalvad and her organisation Sabrang for alleged violation of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act in receiving funds from abroad without seeking the home ministry's permission.
In the First Information Report or FIR, the agency also named Ms Setalvad's husband Javed Anand and Gulam Mohammed Peshimam, both directors in Sabrang Communications and Publishing based in Santacruz, Mumbai.
Ms Setalvad, who has for years worked for victims of the 2002 riots in Gujarat, alleges persecution by the ruling BJP. She has been accused by the Gujarat police of embezzling funds meant for a riots museum.