I-T raids on houses, offices of Sasikala and Dhinakaran across 160 places

Offices of Namadhu MGR, Jaya TV and Jazz Cinemas, residence of Sasikala's husband Natarajan also raided

Income-tax officials have been raiding homes and companies belonging to the jailed All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) leader VK Sasikala and her relatives, including TTV Dhinakaran. Both Sasikala and Dhinakaran are rivals to the ruling AIADMK faction.

The raid started at 6 am this morning across 160 places in Tamil Nadu, besides Bengaluru, Puducherry and Delhi. These places included former Jayalalithaa's house at Poes Garden, Dhinakran's house at Adyar and residence of other leaders, their relatives and party functionaries, in addition to the offices of Jaya TV as well as Jaya TV's top official and management houses. Among the companies being raided are the AIADMK mouthpiece Namadhu MGR, Jaya TV and Jazz Cinemas.

Dhinakaran's faction alleged that this is a personal revenge against him. They also alleged that ruling faction is trying to take control of Jaya TV and Namadhe MGR.

Dhinakaran has said that this is a political vendetta by the central government. "The Centre is trying to threaten us. There was no raid in my house, but my farmhouse at Puducherry is being searched. It is just a gimmick to say that over 150 places were searched", he asserted.

He also questioned why action was not taken on the names in Sekhar Reddy's dairy, the tax authorities took during the raids in his house.

Moreover, the residence of Sasikala’s husband Natarajan in Thanjavur was also raided.

At the offices of Namadhu MGR and Jaya TV, very few staff members were present when the I-T officials raided. I-T officials also visited the residence of Dhinakaran in Adyar.