According to three staff members who spoke to the Associated Press, officials from India's Income Tax department began conducting searches at the BBC's New Delhi headquarters on Tuesday.

The search comes weeks after a contentious British documentary examining Prime Minister Narendra Modi's participation in anti-Muslim riots in 2002 was shown.

The employees requested anonymity since they were not permitted to speak publicly.

The BBC's Delhi and Mumbai offices were inspected by tax department teams, the Press Trust of India news agency reported, citing unnamed authorities.

The Indian tax authorities refused to comment. The BBC was unavailable to comment immediately.

Last month, India banned the two-part documentary "India: The Modi Question," and authorities hurried to stop screenings and restrict footage on social media, a move that critics and political opponents condemned as an attack on press freedom.

The Foreign Ministry of India referred to the documentary as "propaganda designed to promote a discredited narrative" that lacked objectivity.

According to a statement released by the BBC, the program was "rigorously researched" and featured a variety of voices and perspectives.

"We offered the Indian government the opportunity to respond to the issues raised in the series, but they declined," the statement read.