Indian authorities have frozen the bank accounts of Amnesty International after a raid on its country office, the human rights watchdog said on Friday, accusing the government of treating rights groups "like criminal enterprises."
The Enforcement Directorate, India's financial crime investigating agency, searched Amnesty's Bangalore office in southern India for 10 hours on Thursday on suspicion that it had violated foreign direct investment guidelines.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's nationalist government has tightened surveillance on nonprofit groups over the past four years, saying they act against India's interests. Thousands of foreign-funded groups have had licenses cancelled or suspended on charges such as misreporting of donations.