Quick Byte: Income Tax Officials Raid Dainik Bhaskar Offices Across The Country

The Income Tax (IT) Department raided the offices of the Dainik Bhaskar Group, one of the country’s largest newspaper groups, on Thursday. Its offices in cities like Bhopal, Noida, Indore and Jaipur, were in the line of fire. Several offices of the newspaper were raided simultaneously.

According to sources, the raid in Bhopal took place on Thursday morning. A team from the IT department’s investigation wing went to half a dozen places, including the Indira press complex. The local police accompanied officials from the IT department during this raid.

Similar raids were also conducted in other cities such as Indore and Jaipur. It is being said that the entire search operation is being conducted by a team from Delhi and Mumbai. Meanwhile, the newspaper’s digital team has been asked to work from home.

It is important to note that during the second wave of the Corona virus pandemic, many reports of Dainik Bhaskar, highlighting the horrific situation in our country, became a part of the public discourse.

Reactions To IT Raid On Dainik Bhaskar

Netizens and journalists took to social media, to react to the income tax raids, as soon as the news about Dainik Bhaskar’s offices being under scrutiny came to light.

Journalist and writer Saba Naqvi tweeted: “The group had done excellent reporting during the ghastly second wave. Just saying.” Another journalist, Srinivasan Jain, tweeted saying: “Of course.”

On the other hand, journalist Arvind Gunasekhar tweeted: “IT Dept. isearches at the premises of Dainik Bhaskar group across the country on allegations of tax evasion. Multiple teams conducting searches in Delhi, MP, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra…”

The Wire’s founding editor, MK Venu, also reacted to the raid saying: “There you go. Is this reward for coverage of bodies along the Ganga or the reporting of Pegasus?”

Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister, Digvijay Singh, tweeted that IT officials are “present” at about six premises owned by the group. These include his office in the Press Complex in the state capital of Bhopal.

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