“A special investigations team launched a search operation to identify all those individuals who were possibly getting funds from overseas to run a media group with the main agenda of spreading foreign propaganda,” said an official in the interior ministry overseeing the raids by the Delhi Police.

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The raids were part of an investigation by the Enforcement Directorate, India’s financial crime agency, into suspected money laundering by NewsClick, the official said.

Another ministry official said the raids were conducted at more than a dozen homes of journalists and some other writers linked to NewsClick.

“We have not arrested anyone and the search operations are still under way,” the second official said.

Both of the officials declined to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to the media.

The New York Times in August reported that NewsClick was financed by US millionaire Neville Roy Singham, who it said “sprinkled its coverage with Chinese government talking points” – claims Singham rejected.

Prabir Purkayastha, the founder of NewsClick said at the time the allegations were not new and the organisation would respond to them in court.

The Network of Women in Media in India said Tuesday’s “shocking” raids had targeted “prominent voices of dissent”.

Those raided include founding editor Prabir Purkayastha, journalists Aunindyo Chakravarty, Bhasha Singh and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, as well as satirist Sanjay Rajoura and activist Teesta Setalvad, Indian media reported.

The Mumbai Press Club expressed its “deep concern” at the raids in a statement, reporting that “multiple journalists affiliated with NewsClick have been subjected to raids”.

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Indian tax officials raid BBC offices weeks after UK broadcaster airs Modi documentary

Indian tax officials raid BBC offices weeks after UK broadcaster airs Modi documentary

Journalist Aritry Das said police “barged into my home” at dawn, questioned her about her reporting and seized her laptop, phone and computer hard disks, she wrote on social media.

Das also said the raid was linked to a case against NewsClick under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), a stringent anti-terror law which makes it virtually impossible to get bail.

The Press Club demanded the police stop “from what is perceived as a targeted harassment campaign against these journalists”.

Also raided in connection to NewsClick was historian and activist Sohail Hashmi.

“From the warrant that they reluctantly showed me, the raid at my residence was related to an investigation into NewsClick,” Hashmi said.

Hashmi had to hand over his laptop, phone and hard disks containing more than a decade of his writing, calling the raid a “combination of intimidation and a crackdown on freedom of press and speech”.

There was no immediate response from the police, with raids carried out in both the capital New Delhi and in Mumbai.

“I don’t need to justify,” India’s minister for information and broadcasting Anurag Thakur told reporters asking about the raids.

“If anyone has committed anything wrong, search agencies are free to carry out investigations,” broadcaster NDTV quoted him as saying.

India has fallen to 150th in the World Press Freedom Index, an annual ranking by non-profit Reporters Without Borders, from 140th last year, its lowest ever.

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Journalists critical of the government complain of increased harassment, both on social media – where Modi’s ruling party has a powerful presence – and in the real world.

Critics say Modi’s government has sought to pressure rights groups by heavily scrutinising their finances and clamping down on foreign funding.