GST Intel Agency refutes reports of raids at actor Vishal's office

The Chennai unit of the Directorate General of Goods and Services Tax Intelligence (DGGSTI) on Monday denied media reports, which had stated that raids were carried out at the office of the president of the Tamil Film Producers Council, actor Vishal.

"Certain news channels are circulating a news that the officers of DGGSTI, Chennai Zonal Unit have searched the premises of Vishal who is President of the Tamil Nadu Film Producers Council," an official statement from the DGGSTI read.

"It is to clarify that officers of the DGGSTI have not carried out any such search operations and the news which is being circulated is factually incorrect and false," the statement added.

Earlier in the day, it was reported that a team of the GST Intelligence Agency conducted a raid at the Vishal Film Factory, the actor's production house.

The Vishal Film Factory, set up in 2013, has produced six films including Kathakali, Naan Sigappu Manithan and Aambala, all movies in which Vishal himself was the lead actor.

Earlier, Vishal was in news for announcing a reward for tracking down the admins of Tamil Rockers - a website that uploads pirated copies of newly-released Tamil films.

Recently, he also called out Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader H. Raja for saying that he watched parts of Vijay starrer Mersal, online.