The Income Tax Department has been conducting raids at leading production houses and distribution companies of Tamil cinema. The IT department is conducting searches at the premises of leading producers of Tamil cinema like Kalaipuli S Thanu SR Prabhu, Gnanavel Raja, Sathya Jyothi Thyagarajan and Prince Picture Lakshman. Apart from these producers, raids are also being conducted at the locations of famous distributors such as Anbu Chezhiyan, Sakthivel, Mannar, S Picture Seenu and others.
According to media reports, the IT department conducted a raid at the premises of financier-cum-producer GN Anbu Chezhiyan, in Madurai on Tuesday (August 2). At least 10 premises in Chennai and 30 properties in Madurai including GN Anbu Chezhiyan’s residence and a theatre were searched during the raid. Searches are being conducted over the alleged tax evasion.
The raids were conducted after Chezhiyan’s daughter’s grand wedding in Chennai which was attended by celebrities like Rajinikanth, Kamal Hassan, Suriya, and Boney Kapoor. Many politicians were also present at the wedding. This is the third time that the IT department is raiding the house and properties of financier Anbu Chezhiyan.
According to ANI, the IT Department started to raid the office of film producer Kalaipuli S Thanu in T Nagar. Kalaipuli S Thanu’s last release was Karnan, which was released in 2021 and his next project starring Suriya Vaadivasal is scheduled for release this year.
According to media reports, raids were also conducted at the T Nagar office of film producer Kalaipuli S Thanu in Chennai and film Producer SR Prabhu’s Teynampet residence on Tuesday.
In February 2020, prominent names belonging to the Tamil film industry came under the Income Tax radar and searches were conducted at 38 locations across Tamil Nadu. Four major Kollywood names, including actor Thalapathy Vijay and financier Anbu Chezhiyan, were raided by the Income tax department. During the search, the police recovered Rs 65 crore in cash from his home.
