New Delhi: Income Tax Department on Wednesday conducted raids at the residence and other properties of filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, Taapsee Pannu and Vikas Bahl. The search operation went on for three days, and there is a high possibility of it continuing for another day.
Soon after the news broke, netizens flooded the internet with varied reactions. However, while most of the celebrities from the film fraternity opted to stay mum on the issue, actress Kangana Ranaut and filmmaker Ashoke Pandit tweeted on the same:
It has been learnt that Anurag Kashyap and Taapsee Pannu, who are currently in Pune for film shooting were quizzed by the officials separately for about 6 hours at a hotel.
“Evidence of cash receipts by the leading actress amounting to Rs 5 crore has been recovered. Further investigation is going on. Apart from this, non-genuine/bogus expenditure to related concerns by the leading producers/director having tax implication of about Rs. 20 crore has been detected. Similar findings have been made in the case of the leading actress also,” reads the official statement by the Income Tax department which they released on Thursday, March 4.
As per initial reports, a discrepancy of around Rs 300 crore has been uncovered during the probe. The company officials reportedly failed to explain this discrepancy. “During the search, evidence of huge suppression of income by the leading Film Production house compared to the actual box office collections has been unearthed. The company officials have not been able to explain the discrepancy of around Rs. 300 crore,” the official statement by the Income Tax department said.
“Evidence related to manipulation and under-valuation of share transactions of the production house amongst the film directors and shareholders, having tax implication of about Rs. 350 crore has been found and is being further investigated,” the statement added.
The I-T raid was also conducted at properties linked to Madhu Mantena’s KWAN Talent Management Agency in Mumbai. Around 28 premises including residences and offices are being searched. Two leading film production companies, a leading actress and two Talent Management companies in Mumbai are under scanner.
Meanwhile, digital data in the form of emails, WhatsApp chats, hard disks etc have been seized, the statement revealed. Around seven lockers have been put under restraint and the search is still on at all the premises.
The Bollywood celebrities named here are yet to comment on the issue.
