Indian tax officials' raid at BBC offices enters 3rd day

Income Tax survey operation, which began at the BBC offices in Delhi and Mumbai on Tuesday, entered its third day on Thursday, sources said as reported by news agency ANI.

The searches in New Delhi and Mumbai come weeks after the broadcaster aired a documentary in the UK critical of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Although the documentary was broadcast on television only in the UK, India's government has attempted to block people sharing India: The Modi Question online, calling it "hostile propaganda and anti-India garbage" with a "colonial mind-set".

On the third day, ITBP personnel were seen deployed outside the BBC office on KG Marg in Delhi.

According to NDTV, at least 10 senior employees of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in Delhi have not gone home since the Income Tax department launched a "survey" at their Indian offices.

"Officials gathered financial data from staffers and made copies of documents of the news organisation," the NDTV report added.

While there has been no official statement from the Income Tax department on the action, the BBC has said it was cooperating with the authorities.

"We hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible," a short statement added.

On Wednesday, Indian tax authorities said that the exercise would continue for some more time, saying the "exact time frame to call the operation closed rests entirely on the teams on the ground".

The survey is being carried out to investigate issues related to international taxation and transfer pricing of BBC subsidiary companies, officials have said.

The documentary focused on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership as chief minister of the western state of Gujarat during riots in 2002 in which at least 1,000 people were killed, most of them Muslims. Activists put the toll at more than twice that number.

The government last month dismissed the documentary, "India: The Modi Question", as propaganda and blocked its streaming and sharing on social media.

On Tuesday, the ruling BJP had accused the BBC of "venomous reporting" while the Opposition had questioned the timing of the action that came weeks after the broadcaster aired a two-part documentary "India: The Modi Question" on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The Supreme Court last week dismissed a plea seeking the imposition of a complete ban on the BBC in India in the wake of the controversial documentary, terming the petition "entirely misconceived" and "absolutely meritless".