Indian tax authorities have raided SLOTXO the offices of two prominent media outlets that have been critical of the government's response to coronavirus.
Officials said they are investigating tax evasion at TV channel Bharat Samachar and newspaper Dainik Bhaskar.
The homes of some employees have also been raided, and many have had their mobile phones seized.
Several media rights groups and opposition lawmakers say the move is an intentional attack on press freedom.
But Anurag Thakur, India's information and broadcasting minister, denied that the government was involved.
"Agencies do their own work, we don't interfere in their functioning," he said.
Dainik Bhaskar, published in Hindi, is one of India's most widely read daily newspapers.
Throughout the country's outbreak, the paper and Bharat Samachar have exposed a shortfalls in the government's response to the pandemic, including shortages of oxygen and hospital beds.
They have also reported on the bodies of suspected coronavirus victims which have been floating in the river Ganges.