Raid On Utv Bares Rs 6.87 Crore Unaccounted Cash

The income-tax department searches on the business premises of UTV and the residential premises of its officials and directors have led to the unearthing of unaccounted income of Rs 6.87 crore and cash and jewellery of Rs 3,06,640, the department said in a press statement.

The department further said "The group has submitted an affidavit admitting to the evasion".

The UTV spokesperson refused to comment on the issue. However, industry sources said: "Perhaps UTV being high-profile has attracted attention with its recent success with movies such as Fiza, Lagaan and TV shows have seemed to have brought it into the limelight. But many tax searches create initial hype, but true findings can only be proven over a period of time."

The IT authorities sealed 11 lockers which are yet to be opened. IT officials suspect further concealment of income to come to light after the lockers are opened.

In the press statement, G Sharan, director general of Income Tax (Investigation), Mumbai has stated that the search has " prima facie served its purpose as it has brought to light detection of crores of unaccounted income on which taxes had not been paid in accordance with the Direct Tax Laws."

According to the IT department, the modus operandi of the group was to inflate production expenses which were mostly in cash.

The IT department had searched the residential premises of the directors and other persons connected with the UTV group between September 4 and 5. It searched 12 premises and 8 premises were surveyed in Mumbai as well as other places in the country.

The operation was conducted on a massive scale with 116 officers and staff members from the Directorate General of Income-tax (Investigation) including 41 police personnel participating in the search operations, the department said.