IT Raid At BBC Offices In India After Documentary Over PM Modi Sparks Controversy, Employees’ Phones Seized

The Income Tax (IT) department on Monday conducted a survey at the Delhi and Mumbai headquarters of the leading news broadcaster BBC. As per media reports, the London-based Broadcasting House is accused of anomalies in international tax. The BBC itself tweeted and informed of the raid, stating: ‘The Income Tax Authorities are currently at the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai and we are fully cooperating. We hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible.’

Opposition Congress (INC) tweeted on the IT department’s action and termed it as ‘undeclared emergency’. Responding to this, Gaurav Bhatia, a prominent spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), hit back at the opposition by recalling the incident in 1970 when the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi banned the BBC over a documentary.

Employees’ laptops and phones seized

According to reports, a team of 24 IT members raided the Delhi office of BBC located on the fifth and sixth floors of HT Tower in KG Marg area of Delhi. Another team of Income Tax Department raided BBC Studios in Mumbai’s Santacruz area. The team has seized mobiles and and laptop-desktops of the people of the Finance Department.