I-T raids: Jaya's niece slams Sasikala; political vendetta, says Dhinakaran

I-T officials had raided Sasikala's family members and premises of Jaya TV in Chennai and unearthed an unaccounted income of over Rs 1,400 cr

Tamil Nadu Fisheries Minister D Jayakumar on Saturday blamed jailed AIADMK leader V K Sasikala and her family for the Income Tax (IT) raids at late Chief Minister and her aunt J Jayalalithaa's residence late on Friday night.

Speaking to reporters here Jayakumar said it is "painful" to note the IT raids at Jayalalithaa's residence.

"It is the family of Sasikala and TTV Dinakaran to be blamed for the IT raid," Jayakumar said.
 

 

Jayakumar said Dinakaran is blaming Chief Minister K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam for political gains.

Condemning the raids, sidelined AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran supporter and former MLA, V P Kalairajan told media, "This is just political vendetta and targeting of one family".

 

 

Responding to the media in Tuticorin (600km from here), Minister of State for Finance and Shipping Pon Radhakrishnan said, "The raids were done on the basis of specific information and not for political vendetta."

On Friday night IT officials recovered a laptop, a desktop and four pen drives from two rooms used by Sasikala at Jayalalithaa's residence here, said a senior official.

"We received an input that some important electronic storage devices are going to be clandestinely removed from two rooms used by Sasikala in Veda Nilayam (Jayalalithaa's residence)," the IT official told IANS preferring anonymity on Friday.

According to him, it was a "limited mission". "We are not searching the entire premises," he had said.

This swoop comes after November 9, where the I-T official raided Sasikala's family members and premises of Jaya TV in Chennai and unearthed an unaccounted income of over Rs 1,400 crore.

The raids on 187 locations, including Bengaluru, Hyderabad and New Delhi, were conducted by over 1,000 officials, who split into more than a dozen teams on day one of the searches on November 9.

The raids were conducted based on inputs, including those from the Finance Ministry's Financial Intelligence Unit.

The office of Tamil channel Jaya TV in Chennai, TTV Dhinakaran's farmhouse off Auroville near Puducherry and premises of several other relatives of Sasikala at various other places were searched.

Sasikala nephew says raids ‘don't seem to be politically motivated’

Earlier, Sasikala's nephew and head of Jaya TV Vivek Jayaraman said raids at properties linked to their family members and associates "don't seem" to be politically motivated.

Jayaraman told reporters here that I-T sleuths posed various questions about companies headed by him, including Jazz Cinemas, besides seeking accounts for the jewels worn by his wife during their wedding.

He said it was explained "in detail" to them.

When asked if the raids were politically motivated, Jayaraman said, "It doesn't seem so".

"They (taxmen) have done their duty and we are answerable (to them). Every citizen of the country has to pay income tax.. I am clear about that," he said.

It was the "duty" of a citizen to pay taxes and anyone found violating the law was "liable" to face action, Jayaraman said.

On details of seizures made during the raids, he said the sleuths queried about documents on "general accounts".

"There were documents in the companies, general documents, about general accounts. So the questions were raised about these documents.

"We are into movies, distribution of movies, so they asked questions about agreements concerning them. We have answered them clearly," he said.

Asserting that he would present accounts of his wife's jewels, Jayaraman said, "We are ready to answer whatever queries posed by I-T officials in the future".

In an apparent reference to the searches, he said, "Let's not hype what's not true."