Chennai, Feb 15 (IANS): Actor-turned-politician and founder president of NTK, Seeman has said that the Income Tax department 'survey' at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) offices in Mumbai and New Delhi were a direct "assault on Press freedom".

In a statement on Wednesday, the NTK leader said that the raids were a misuse of power.

"The action that was taken is a revenge for releasing the documentary on Gujarat riots... This is an open threat to freedom of press."

The NTK leader said that the "government taking action against the BBC instead of facing the fallout of the documentary gracefully is a disgrace and blatant misuse of power".

Seeman said, "The Central government under Narendra Modi has taken control over all autonomous institutions like the Income Tax department, Central Investigating agencies, Enforcement Directorate, and others. He said that the government was threatening opposition political parties, social activists, revolutionaries, democratic parties and the media."

The search operation by the Income Tax department officials commenced on Tuesday morning and is continuing.