Unaccounted income of over Rs 1400 crore unearthed during raids on Sasikala's kin

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Chennai: Income Tax sleuths have detected undisclosed income of Rs 1,430 crore in respect of ten assessee groups which included those linked to jailed AIADMK leader V K Sasikala, her kin and their associates.

Income Tax (I-T) department sleuths last Thursday carried out simultaneous multi-city raids on 187 premises including those linked to Sasikala and her nephew and deposed AIADMK general secretary TTV Dhinakaran and Tamil television channel Jaya TV over suspected tax evasion.

The searches were conducted in connection with the unexplained routing of cash post-demonetisation through shell companies allegedly connected to Sasikala and her nephew.

The places raided included the residence of M Natarajan, Sasikala`s husband, in Thanjavur; Kodanad Tea Estate belonging to Jayalalithaa, Jazz Cinemas, Midas Distilleries, Sharada Paper and Boards, Senthil Group of Companies, Nilgiri Furniture in Coimbatore, Jaya TV, Namadhu MGR and several other premises in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Hyderabad and Bengaluru.

A top tax investigation official in Chennai said that more than Rs 7 crore in cash and jewellery worth over Rs 5 crore were seized during the searches. As many as 15 bank lockers and diamond jewellery were kept under "prohibitory orders" under which access to them is denied, he added.

"A lot of incriminating documents were found and prima facie we have detected undisclosed income of Rs 1,430 crore," the official, who did not want to be named, told PTI.

In Delhi, a senior I-T official said undisclosed income of around Rs 1,500 crore was detected during the multi-city searches that were carried out mostly in Tamil Nadu.

Stating that Rs 30 crore of undisclosed income was "detected already", the Chennai-based official said a "lot more materials" are being looked into.

The official said the undisclosed income was in respect of the ten assessee groups, which includes Jaya TV and Midas Distilleries that are reportedly linked to Sasikala.

Sasikala is serving a four-year jail term in a disproportionate assets case. Late Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa was also an accused in the case.

The trial court in Bengaluru had convicted Sasikala along with Jayalalithaa, Sudhakaran and Elavarasi in the case for amassing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income.

On February 14, Sasikala was convicted in the case by the apex court, dashing her ambition to become the Tamil Nadu CM.

Consequently, she was not able to enter into electoral politics for a period of six years after serving the four-year jail term.

(With Agency inputs)