Dainik Bhaskar group, has come under the scanner of the taxmen. The Income Tax department launched extensive search operations and raids at multiple locations, including in Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Maharashtra.
In Bhopal, I-T personnel also searched the residence of Sudhir Aggarwal, the Bhaskar group’s promoter.
According to sources, there were more than 30 premises, including offices and residential premises of the promoters of the group, are being raided/searched by over 100 taxmen in a joint exercise launched on Thursday morning.
On the website of the Dainik Bhaskar, one of the largest circulating Hindi daily, the group has stated that “scared of its coverage of floating dead bodies in the river Ganges during the pandemic, the government launched raids on the Bhaskar group.”
It added that besides the offices, the I-T sleuths are also raiding the residences of key personnel of the group. “The taxmen have seized mobiles of the employees,” it claimed, adding there was no woman in the I-T teams that came to raid the group’s offices and other premises.
Headquartered in Madhya Pradesh, Dainik Bhaskar group has more than 60 editions operating in a dozen States in many languages.
The Dainik Bhaskar and its other language publications have been aggressively reporting on the scale of COVID-19 devastation in the second wave in April-May and its aftermath.
The dailies from the group carried a series of reports critical of the official claims during the pandemic which saw the country’s healthcare system overwhelmed.
