Amnesty International’s Offices In Delhi And Bengaluru Raided By CBI Over Suspected Irregularities In Foreign Funding

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today (15 November) raided offices belonging to Amnesty International in New Delhi And Bengaluru in connection with violation of Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) norms by the international human-rights focussed NGO, News18 reports.

CBI sleuths began the searches at about 8.30 am at the Bengaluru office which continued upto 5 pm in the evening.

The self-proclaimed international human-rights NGO issued the following statement in view of the raids:

"Amnesty India stands in full compliance with Indian and international law. Our work in India, as elsewhere, is to uphold and fight for universal human rights. These are the same values that are enshrined in the Indian Constitution and flow from a long and rich Indian tradition of pluralism, tolerance, and dissent."

However, the organisation has been on the radar of Indian security agencies for years with the government having earlier taken action against such NGOs that have been found to in violation of the norms.

Amnesty International’s Bengaluru office was also raided last year by the Enforcement Directorate for suspected violations of FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) guidelines.