The Income Tax Department on Thursday conducted raids at the multiple premises of media group Dainik Bhaskar in different cities over alleged tax evasion.

The searches were conducted at several locations in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan, and Gujarat. No official statement has been issued by the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) yet but tax officials confirmed that the searches were underway.

In a message posted on its website, Dainik Bhaskar said the Government raids have come against it as it put out the “true picture of the Government’s inefficiency before the country during the second wave of Covid-19.”

It said the raids were carried out at residences of many staffers, and they seized the mobile phones of those present in the offices and they were not being allowed to go out. “Officials involved in the raids said this was part of the process and they will be released after panchmana proceedings are done,” it said.

Dainik Bhaskar group had done a series of stories on the deaths in the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and bodies being dumped along the river Ganga.

In a message posted on its website, Dainik Bhaskar said the Government raids have come against it as it put out the "true picture of the government's inefficiency before the country during the second wave of Covid-19."

It said the raids were carried out at residences of many staffers, they seized the mobile phones of those present in the offices and they were not being allowed to go out. “Officials involved in the raids said this was part of the process and they will be released after panchmana proceedings are done,” it said.

Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh said on Twitter that tax officials "are present" at half a dozen premises of the group, including at its office at Press Complex in state capital.