Read and watch: Gujarat police forced Australian journalists investigating Adani to flee Mundra

ABC’s Four Corners team, that had come to Gujarat to investigate Adani group, was threatened by the Crime Branch of Gujarat Police and was forced to leave the state

Photo courtesy: Twitter
Photo courtesy: Twitter
user

NH Web Desk

ABC’s Four Corners programme, that uncovered unknown tax haven ties of the Adani Group's Australian operations, with key assets ultimately owned in the British Virgin Islands, was threatened by the Gujarat Police’s Crime Branch as video evidence suggests and the network claims.

The Four Corners team had arrived at Gujarat’s Mundra port to investigate further into the matter but was forced to leave Gujarat and India. But this group of journalists succeeded in conducting the entire investigation.

The Four Corners team has shared the treatment meted out to them in a promo(video) which they posted on Twitter. According to this promo, the team investigating the track record of Adani Group, which is now working on Australia’s biggest coal mining project, reached Gujarat to compile the report. The team’s reporter, Stephen Long, himself is narrating in the video how the police reached his hotel room the very next day of his arrival at Mundra port. When these people told him that they are from Crime Branch, Long became worried about the safety of the footage of various interviews and conversations that they had already conducted.

Long says that these people from Crime Branch interrogated them for almost five hours. One senior police official repeatedly went out to talk on his mobile phone often and whenever he came in, he became sterner. “They knew why we had come but no one was uttering “A” (Adani).”

According to Long, the police threatened them that if they did not go back, the officials from three secret agencies would interrogate them and that secret agents of Crime Branch and the police will shadow them wherever they go.

After such a treatment, the Four Corners team did not think it was wise to stay there and left the next day early morning. Stephen Long was happy that he could save the footage of all the interviews related to their investigations. Four Corners have given their story the title- ‘Digging into Adani’. You can watch the video of how they were threatened here:

Later too, Four Corners shared a lot of information about Adani in their tweets. There is a video in the tweets which shows how the Adani group grew and how Modi helped in its growth and expansion.

After the Four Corners story came out, the hashtag #stop Adani is trending in entire Australia. Through this hashtag, people have raised questions about Adani’s intentions, his way of working, fudging of taxes and embezzlement of money.

Four Corners has also shared the link of their story on Twitter:

Follow us on: Facebook, Twitter, Google News, Instagram 

Join our official telegram channel (@nationalherald) and stay updated with the latest headlines