India opens new probe into BBC’s tax violations in widening crackdown

The tax raids in February had come shut on the heels of the discharge of a BBC documentary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s management of the state of Gujarat throughout riots in 2002. At the very least 1,000 individuals had been killed within the riots, most of them Muslims.

The newest investigation is being performed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) beneath India’s Overseas Alternate Administration Act. The company issued a discover to the BBC in March and questioned some staff earlier this month, stated the supply, who declined to be named citing the sensitivity of the matter.

An ED spokesperson didn’t instantly reply to calls and a textual content message looking for remark. The BBC didn’t instantly reply to an e mail looking for remark.

The Overseas Alternate Administration Act, 1999, is a civil regulation and the ED conducts investigations into suspected contraventions of it to “adjudicate and impose penalties” on these discovered responsible, it says on its web site.

British Overseas Minister James Cleverly, throughout a go to to New Delhi in March, raised the BBC tax searches together with his Indian counterpart.

Relations between India and Britain, who’re working to seal a delayed free-trade settlement, have additionally been strained by protests exterior the Indian Excessive Fee in London final month.

India on Wednesday requested Britain for elevated monitoring of UK-based supporters of a Sikh separatist motion following a “breach of safety” on the Excessive Fee. The British authorities stated this week they had been working to “overview safety and make adjustments to make sure the security of its employees.”

India slams BBC documentary on 2002 riots in Modi’s dwelling state as ‘propaganda’