British television offices on Tuesday morning BBC in New Delhi and Mumbai, India, were raided as part of an investigation into alleged tax evasion. During the searches, several documents were seized, as well as the phones and computers of some journalists. BBC he said he is collaborating with the Indian authorities, but at the moment not much more is known about the nature of the investigation.
The searches were carried out within weeks of a major diplomatic case between BBC and the Indian government: in fact, at the end of January the Indian Ministry of Information banned the broadcasting in the country of a documentary produced by BBC on the story of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, leader of the nationalist BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). The documentary narrated, through hitherto unpublished sources, Modi’s responsibilities in the killing of hundreds of Muslims during some serious clashes that took place in 2002 in the state of Gujarat, of which he was governor at the time.
According to several members of opposition parties, the searches on Tuesday morning were carried out on Modi’s orders in retaliation for the publication of the documentary BBC, and the investigation into the alleged tax evasion would only be a front operation to target British television. According to Congress Party member and Modi opponent KC Venugopal, the searches “reek of desperation and show that the Modi government is afraid of criticism.”
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