I-T raids don't seem to be politically motivated: Sasikala kin

Chennai, Nov 14 (PTI) Jailed AIADMK leader V K Sasikala'snephew and head of Jaya TV Vivek Jayaraman today said theIncome Tax raids at properties li...

Chennai, Nov 14 (PTI) Jailed AIADMK leader V K Sasikala'snephew and head of Jaya TV Vivek Jayaraman today said theIncome Tax raids at properties linked to their family membersand associates "don't seem" to be politically motivated.

Jaya TV office was one among the many locations where I-Tsleuths had conducted searches since last Thursday, whichended yesterday.

After five-day-long multi-city searches, Income Tax (I-T)department sleuths had detected undisclosed income of Rs 1,430crore in respect of 10 assessee groups which included thoselinked to Sasikala, her kin and their associates.

Meanwhile, police said I-T officials were today verifyingdocuments at the Green Tea Estate at Curzon in Nilgirisdistrict.

The estate is said to be purchased by late chief ministerJayalalithaa and her aide Sasikala some five years ago.

Jayaraman told reporters here that I-T sleuths posedvarious questions about companies headed by him, includingJazz Cinemas, besides seeking accounts for the jewels worn byhis 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 incometax.. I am clear about that," he said.

It was the "duty" of a citizen to pay taxes and anyonefound violating the law was "liable" to face action, Jayaramansaid.

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

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

"We are into movies, distribution of movies, so theyasked questions about agreements concerning them. We haveanswered them clearly," he said.

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

In an apparent reference to the searches, he said, "Let'snot hype what's not true."Tax authorities had yesterday summoned Jayaraman, head ofJaya TV (Mavis Satcom Limited), for questioning followingconclusion of searches at the premises of the channel here.

PTI SA COR NVM TVS ROHDIP.

This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.

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