I-T raids on leading Tollywood filmmakers continue for third day

The Income Tax Department continued raids on the premises of some leading Tollywood filmmakers for a third consecutive day on Thursday. 

The searches, which began on Tuesday, continued on the premises of well-known producer and Telangana Film Federation Development Corporation (TGFDC) chairman V. Venkata Ramana Reddy, who is popularly known as Dil Raju. The searches continued at various locations, including Dil Raju’s residence in Ujas Villas, Jubilee Hills, his office and the premises of his relatives.

The raids were also continuing on the leading production houses Mythri Movie Makers and Mango Media. The department has not yet come out with a statement about the searches but it is believed that it identified a mismatch between the revenues earned by some recent movies and the income tax paid.

The searches related to ‘Pushpa 2:The Rule’, ‘Game Changer’ and ‘Sankranthiki Vasthunam’ were released recently.

‘Gama Changer’ and ‘Sankranthiki Vasthunam’ were produced by Dil Raju under the banner of Sri Venkateswara Creations. ‘Gama Changer’ starring Ram Charan and Kiara Advani was released on January 10. ‘Sankranthiki Vasthunam’ was released on the occasion of Sankranthi last week. The film, starring Venkatesh, Aishwarya Rajesh, and Meenakshi Chaudhary, has become one of the highest-grossing films of Dil Raju.

The I-T searches were also conducted at the properties of Dil Raju’s family members, including daughter Hansita Reddy, producer Sireesh, who is co-owner of Sri Venkateswara Creations and director Anil Ravipudi.

The searches were also on the properties of Mythri Movie Makers, the makers of ‘Pushpa 2’. The searches targeted houses of Myrthi founders Naveen Yemeni and Yalamanchili Ravi Shankar, CEO Cherry and other key people associated with the leading production house.

‘Pushpa 2’ starring Allu Arjun released last month reported an earning of over Rs1,500 crore. The I-T officials on Wednesday also carried out a raid on ‘Pushpa 2’ director Sukumar’s office and other premises.

The I-T sleuths were inspecting key documents, including balance sheets and I-T returns. They were also checking the bank lockers as part of the investigation.

Dil Raju’s wife Tejaswini was taken to a bank on Tuesday and lockers were opened in her presence. Several teams of I-T officials were checking the financial transactions of the production houses

The I-T officials are reportedly suspecting tax evasion and are verifying the documents. The searches are believed to be part of an investigation into alleged financial discrepancies and unaccounted income. Officials are scrutinising financial records and transactions to ascertain potential tax evasion.