BBC in hands of people with agenda on India: Union Min Hardeep Singh Puri

NEW DELHI: Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday took a jibe at BBC's allegation of the freedom of the press after the Income Tax department raided BBC offices in the country, saying that the British broadcaster is in the hands of people with an agenda on India. "...Our laws are very transparent. If someone is not paying tax and we send notice to them, then they say, it is an issue of Freedom of the Press...I would not like to go into details but some of their actions in the past made it seem that they were in the hands of people with an agenda on India...," Puri said while addressing the media.

Puri reached Jammu on Monday on a two-day visit to evaluate the implementation of a development project of his Ministry in the Jammu Division.Puri, on Tuesday, attended a meeting of BJP workers and leaders under Jan Sampark Abhiyan in the RS Pura area of Jammu district.

Notably, searches were conducted by Income Tax at the offices of the British broadcaster in New Delhi and Mumbai in February this year. The broadcaster came under the radar of Indian agencies after it published a controversial documentary, 'India: The Modi Question,' which drew sharp criticism from the Indian government and tarnished the country's image.

Following a survey by the Income Tax Department, the ED had earlier also sent a summons to BBC, calling for an inquiry into the matter. The government, in January, directed social media platforms to block YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the documentary soon after it created controversy.

The documentary, which questioned the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2002 Gujarat riots, was widely criticized by the Indian government and several sections of the Indian public. The BBC faced allegations of spreading fake news and propaganda, and the Indian government accused the broadcaster of trying to destabilize the country.