Indian tax officers searched the BBC\u2019s offices in New Delhi and Mumbai for a second day on Wednesday, two sources said, as controversy swirled over a BBC documentary critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s role in deadly riots two decades ago.
\nThe searches resumed Wednesday morning after they went on until late in the night on Tuesday, a government source and a source in the BBC\u2019s New Delhi office told Reuters.
\nIndia\u2019s Income Tax Department has declined to comment on the reason for the search. The sources declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.
\nThe government last month blocked the documentary that focuses on Modi, a Hindu nationalist, during his time as chief minister of Gujarat state when Hindu-Muslim violence erupted in 2002.
\nAt least 1,000 people were killed in the riots, most of them Muslims. Activists have put the toll at more than twice that number.
\nThe government says the documentary, \u2018India: The Modi Question\u2019, aims to push what it calls a discredited narrative, arguing that it is \u201cbiased, lacked objectivity\u201d and showed a \u201ccontinuing colonial mindset\u201d.
\nThe BBC has stood by its reporting for the documentary. It said on Tuesday it was cooperating with Indian tax officials, and hoped to have the situation \u201cresolved as soon as possible\u201d.
\nMedia organisations in India have slammed the search.
\n\u201cWe demand that this intimidation be stopped and journalists are left to do their jobs without fear or favour,\u201d the Mumbai Press Club said in a statement.
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