Income Tax officials raided about 10 establishments belonging to businesses owned by members of the Sasikala family early on 9 November, according to multiple reports.
Initial reports suggested that raids are on in about 20 office premises of Jaya TV, Jazz Cinemas and Namadhu MGR, among other offices and residences.
Apart from Jaya TV office, they have also raided Poes Garden, the Kodanadu estate, and the residences of some of TTV’s relatives.Pravhakaran, Editor of Jaya TV to The Quint
The raids began at 6:30 in the morning. At least 8 officials were seen entering the Jaya TV office, according to reports.
We have confirmed information about concealment of income and tax evasion. We have been monitoring the activities of the TV channel as well as its senior officials.Senior IT Official, to the Times of India
Speaking to the media, TTV Dhinakaran alleged that raids did not happen at this residence, but at his farmhouse.
The News Minute reports that the following places were raided in Mannargudi and Thanjavur: Dhivaharan’s residence at Sundarakottai in the outskirts of Mannargudi, Dhivaharan assistant Vinayagam’s residence in Mannargudi; residences of Dhivaharan’s aides Sujay and Selvam in Mannargudi; lawyer Velukarthikeyan’s residence in Thanjavur; residence of Dhivarahan’s Vaduvur Agri Rajendran residence in Mannargudi; Amma Peravai Dy Secy Rajeshwaran’ residence; and Sasikala’s brothers Sundaravadanam’s and late TV Mahadevan’s residences in Thanjavur.
This is an attempt to remove me and Sasikala from politics. Raids are politically motivated. We are not scared, EPS-OPS are threatening us to acquire Jaya TV.TTV Dhinkaran
He took a dig at BJP by adding: “I will not allow the party that is behind these raids to get established in Tamil Nadu.”
Raids were also conducted in Mannargudi, at the residences of people close to Sasikala’s family. According to The News Minute, Sasikala’s husband M Natarajan’s house in Thanjavur was also raided.
Jaya TV, started by former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in 1999, was a mouthpiece of the AIADMK. Members of Sasikala’s family have been controlling the operations of the media house for many years now. Sasikala’s nephew Vivek Jayakumar, son of Ilavarasi who is also in jail, currently manages the affairs of the TV channel.
According to NDTV, the company is also accused of making big investments after demonetisation and investing in properties owned by proxy.
The raids, according to sources, are part of the ‘Clean Money’ operation. While there are no official records confirming this theory, local politicians are of the opinion that the I-T department had considerable help from the Tamil Nadu government.
Jazz cinemas is owned and operated by Vivek Jayakumar and other members of the family. It was bought out by the family from the Sathyam Cinemas group amid rumours of a forceful buyout.
Namadhu MGR is the newsprint mouthpiece of the AIADMK, and is also said to be controlled by TTV Dhinakaran.
In August, the merged factions of EPS and OPS passed a resolution stating that legal procedures will be initiated to retrieve and attach party mouthpieces – Jaya TV and Namadhu MGR.
The last time such ‘raids’ were carried out on the financial operations of the family was back in 1996, according to an India Today report of the same year, when Jayalalithaa’s financial irregularities were tumbling out.
(This is a developing story and will be updated. With inputs from The News Minute)
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