Searches as part of tax evasion investigation

New Delhi: Sleuths attached to the Income Tax (I-T) Department conducted simultaneous raids on the offices of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in New Delhi and Mumbai this afternoon.

A team of 15 officials conducted survey operations and sources said the searches were related to allegations of International Taxation and Transfer Pricing irregularities. The Department is looking at documents related to the business operations of British Broadcasting Corporation   and those related to its Indian arm.

As part of a survey, the Income Tax Department only covers the business premises of a company and does not raid residences and other locations of its promoters or directors.

According to the details, the mobile phones of the employees were seized and they were asked to go home, while those working on the afternoon shift at the BBC’s Delhi office were asked to work from home.

The opposition Congress has reacted sharply to the raids saying that Government is after the BBC as the raids come close on the heels of a BBC documentary titled- India-The Modi Question- on the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the Gujarat riots 2002.

The documentary, made in two parts, which was released two weeks ago, was later restricted by the Central Government from airing on TV and social media platforms.

The External Affairs Ministry had flayed the documentary as a propaganda piece, made without any objectivity, and a colonial mindset. The documentary goes against India’s Supreme Court verdict that exonerated Modi, the Ministry said.