Chennai: Investigators from the income tax department knocked on the doors early Wednesday morning of some high profile Kollywood celebrities, including actor Vijay, Nayanthara and Samantha, raiding them in connection with suspected income tax evasion and possible use of black money in movie making. Interestingly, the department's search operations carried out in more than 30 places across south India mainly targeted actors and crew of Tamil movie ‘Puli’ which is slated for Thursday release.
In Pallavaram, Chennai, Samantha's mother tried to chase away media persons taking pictures of the apartment while her father Joseph Prabhu said their daughter was abroad for a film shoot. He added that as far he knew Samantha paid her taxes regularly and did not have any black money. “I have only Rs 11,500 in my bank account. My wife and daughter may have little more in their account. The IT teams are searching the house. Let them do it,” he said.
Earlier, a youth in his 20s came from inside the apartment and punched a media person on his face before dashing back inside. Samantha’s father later tendered an apology for the rude behaviour.
Vijay’s house in Neelankarai and office in Saligramam were searched while Nayanthara’s house in Kerala and Samantha's house in Pallavaram were also raided. The searches were held because there was a complaint that black money was used in the financing of Puli, sources said. They also said the IT department was checking whether the film stars were filing regular and correct returns.
