Indian tax authorities raided BBC’s New Delhi offices on Tuesday, weeks after it aired a documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s actions during deadly sectarian riots in 2002.
According to international media reports, police sealed off the building and half a dozen officers were stationed outside the office — which occupies two floors — to prevent people from entering or leaving.
A BBC employee based in the office told media that the tax raid was in progress and that officials were “confiscating all phones”.
“There is government procedure happening inside the office,” an official said, declining to disclose their department.
After the raids, BJP spokesman Gaurav Bhatia told reporters that “the BBC indulges in anti-India propaganda”. “India is a country which gives an opportunity to every organisation… as long as you don’t spew venom. “
Last month, the broadcaster aired a two-part documentary alleging that Modi ordered police to turn a blind eye to sectarian riots in Gujarat state, where he was premier at the time.
The violence left at least 1,000 people dead, most of them minority Muslims. India’s government blocked videos and tweets sharing links to the documentary using emergency powers under its information technology laws.
Government adviser Kanchan Gupta had slammed the documentary as “hostile propaganda and anti-India garbage”.
University student groups later organised viewings of the documentary despite campus bans, defying government efforts to stop its spread. Police arrested two dozen students at the prestigious Delhi University after stopping a screening there.
