Indian tax authorities raided BBC\u2019s New Delhi offices on Tuesday, weeks after it aired a documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s actions during deadly sectarian riots in 2002.<\/p>\n
Police sealed off the building and half a dozen officers were stationed outside the office \u2014 which occupies two floors \u2014 to prevent people from entering or leaving.<\/p>\n
A BBC employee based in the office told AFP that the tax raid was in progress and that officials were \u201cconfiscating all phones\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is government procedure happening inside the office,\u201d an official said, declining to disclose their department.<\/p>\n
India\u2019s Income Tax Department could not be reached for comment by AFP.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The violence left at least 1,000 people dead, most of them minority Muslims. India\u2019s government blocked videos and tweets sharing links to the documentary using emergency powers under its information technology laws.<\/p>\n
Government adviser Kanchan Gupta had slammed the documentary as \u201chostile propaganda and anti-India garbage\u201d.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Indian tax authorities raided BBC\u2019s New Delhi offices on Tuesday, weeks after it aired a documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s actions during deadly sectarian riots in 2002. Police sealed off the building and half a dozen officers were stationed outside the office \u2014 which occupies two floors \u2014 to prevent people from entering or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313668,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-313659","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n