Hyderabad: A team of Income Tax (I-T) officials from New Delhi raided the offices of Telugu film production company Mythri Movie Makers' headquarters for allegedly breaking investment regulations by bringing in funds from abroad for the second time in less than four months after December 2022.
The IT officials also raided residences of Mythri Movie Makers', including Erneni Naveen, Cherukuri Mohan, and Yalamanchili Ravishankar in Jubilee Hills along with director Sukumar, director of Pushpa, Rangasthalam, Arya, among others. A team of IT officials went to Sukumar's residence in Banjara Hills and reportedly collected documents.
Sukumar was not at home when the raids took place, according to insiders, who also claimed that he was engaged in the shooting of Pushap-2.
The raids on Sukumar's residences in Banjara Hills coincide with the impending release of Allu Arjun-starrer Pushpa 2, a film produced by Mythri Movie Makers. Sukumar founded his own production business, Sukumar Writings, and is currently working with Mythri Movie Makers to co-produce the much awaited Pushpa 2 sequel.
I-T officials suspect that Mythri Movie Makers funnelled funds from abroad and invested in Tollywood to produce several Telugu films. " The I-T department suspects Mythri Movie makers allowed an investment of Rs 500 crore from abroad without following the norms. The firm is producing actor-politician Pawan Kalyan's upcoming film, Ustad Bhagat Singh, which is set to be released in 2023.
Furthermore, the I-T department suspects that Mythri Movie Makers failed to disclose total investments and income sources in their Income Tax Returns (ITRs) filing.
The Mythri Movie Makers (MMM) offices and residences were previously searched by IT officials in December 2022.
