NEW DELHI: Indian tax officials have examined mobile phones and laptops used by some BBC editorial and administrative staff, two sources told, as an inspection at the British broadcaster’s offices in New Delhi and Mumbai entered a third day on Thursday.

The tax department action comes weeks after the government reacted angrily to a BBC documentary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Indian tax authorities had left its offices in New Delhi and Mumbai after the third day of an inspection, said BBC on Thursday.

“We will continue to cooperate with the authorities and hope matters are resolved as soon as possible,” the British broadcaster said.

“We are supporting staff — some of whom have faced lengthy questioning or been required to stay overnight — and their welfare is our priority.”

Tax officials remained at the BBC’s offices, some sleeping there, since the surprise inspection was launched on Tuesday, according to witnesses. Others said some employees were questioned about financial transactions late into the night.

“They (officials) asked some of us to open their laptop and hand in phones and then handed it back,” one source told, adding that owners of the devices were asked for the access codes. A second source gave a similar account.

Staff were asked to stay off social media and report any adverse comments they received on such platforms, the BBC told employees in an internal memo sent on Thursday.

“I know this continues to be a very stressful and upsetting experience for you and your families and it will take time to process what has happened,” the internal note sent by Liliane Landor, director of BBC World Service, said.

Landor said the organisation would contact staff again with more details once the survey was finished. The BBC recently produced a documentary that raised questions over Modi’s role during the deadly communal riots in Gujarat in 2002, when the Hindu nationalist leader was chief minister of the western state.

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

The broadcaster has stood by its reporting, which investigated one of the worst outbreaks of religious violence in India in the modern era. At least 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in the bloodletting, though activists put the toll at more than twice that number.

An earlier internal memo from BBC World Service Landor sent on Wednesday instructed staff to answer questions honestly and “not delete or conceal any information on any of your devices.”

The tax department has not issued any statement or responded to requests for comment, though a government official denied that the tax survey was “vindictive”, saying it was related to transfer pricing rules and alleged diversion of profits.

Kanchan Gupta, a senior adviser at the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, told Times Now news channel on Wednesday that the BBC was served tax notices in the past but had not provided a “convincing response.”

In recent years some international companies had come under the income tax scanner regarding transfer pricing rules, but several media organisations and rights’ group criticised the ongoing search at the BBC.

“We demand that this intimidation be stopped and journalists are left to do their jobs without fear or favour,” the Mumbai Press Club said in a statement.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2023