The Income Tax Department on Thursday conducted raids across several states against prominent media group Dainik Bhaskar as well as Uttar Pradesh-based TV channel Bharat Samachar for alleged tax evasion, drawing a sharp response from several quarters.

The raids against the multi-media Dainik Bhaskar group — which has presence in 12 states and runs newspapers as well as radio stations, web portals and mobile phone apps — were taking place in 30 locations, including Bhopal, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Noida, sources said. The searches started around 5.30 am and were going on till evening.