NEW DELHI: The sleuths of the Income Tax Department on Tuesday carried out extensive searches inside the premises of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in the national capital.According to sources, a team of the I-T department reached the office of BBC located at KG Marg in Delhi around 11.30 am and sealed the office to conduct the searches.
At the same time, a separate tax department team also reached the global media conglomerate’s office near the Bandra Kurla Complex in central Mumbai.Sources from the BBC told The New Indian Express that the taxmen seized the mobile phones and other gadgets of the employees and they refrained from using their computers.
The BBC office is located on two floors — 5th and 6th — of the HT building. The 5th floor is used by the journalists of all languages while the sixth floor is having administration and accounts department along with the TV unit of the media house.
Sources said that when the I-T team arrived at the BBC office, the organisation’s India head was not present. They also said that the I-T team’s focus was on the sixth floor i.e. the accounts department.
“Initially, some employees were allowed to enter the office and their mobile phones were seized but later as everyone got to know about the raids, several employees refrained from coming to the office,” sources inside the BBC told this newspaper.
As the news of the I-T survey spread, a large number of media persons and photographers, besides many curious onlookers converged outside the HT building. The sources also said that only the mobile phones of journalists were seized while the pantry staff, which is on both the floors, was allowed to carry their cell phones.
While the government did not give any official response yet, reportedly, Union Minister Anurag Thakur said that surveys are conducted from time to time where irregularities are found and when the survey is completed, the I-T dept will provide information.
However, the Opposition lambasted the present dispensation, saying the “raid” at BBC’s offices reeks of
desperation and shows that the Modi government is scared of criticism.Notably, last month, BBC aired a two-part documentary series on the 2002 Godhra communal riots in which it accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, of turning a blind eye to sectarian violence.