Tax raids at BBC offices in India enter second day

theguardian.com:

Raids of BBC offices by government officials in India have entered a second day as a tax investigation continues, just weeks after the release of a documentary critical of prime minister Narendra Modi.

According to reports, searches of the BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai continued overnight and into Wednesday morning as officials went through documents and seized phones and laptops of journalists and employees at the broadcaster.

Dozens of employees were held in their offices for hours by officials from the income tax department on Tuesday.

“The Income Tax Authorities remain at the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai. Many staff have now left the building, but some have been asked to remain and are continuing to cooperate with the ongoing enquiries” said BBC news in a tweet late on Tuesday evening.

Officials have said they are investigating the BBC for tax evasion, diversion of profits and non-compliance of Indian law. The BBC said they were cooperating fully with the searches.

The investigation comes just weeks after the release of a BBC documentary, India: The Modi Question, which angered the government. The documentary looked at the rising tensions between Modi and India’s minority Muslim population and revisited allegations that Modi was complicit in inciting religious riots in Gujarat in 2002 which killed 1,000 people, mostly Muslims.

The government had condemned the documentary as “a propaganda piece designed to push a particular discredited narrative” alleging that the “bias, the lack of objectivity, and a continuing colonial mindset, is blatantly visible.”

The BBC has said the documentary was “rigorously researched according to highest editorial standards”. It features interviews with figures from the ruling Bharatiya