HYDERABAD: Officials of the Telangana Commercial Taxes Department conducted searches in firms belonging to former MLA and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy’s son and relatives in Hyderabad on Monday over alleged irregularities in tax payment.
Twenty teams of officials, including two Deputy Commissioners, raided the offices of the firms — Sushee Infra and Mining Limited (SIML), Sushee Arunachal Highways Limited (SAHL) and Sushee Chandragupta Coal Mines (SCCM) Private Limited — at MLA Colony in Banjara Hills. Rajagopal’s son, Komatireddy Sankirth Reddy, is the managing director (MD) of the group. There are two other directors in SIML, four in SAHL and three in SCCM Private Limited.
Sources in the department said the companies had failed to pay taxes as per Goods and Services Tax (GST) norms and the irregularities came to light after officials identified them during the regular scrutiny process. Senior department officials held a meeting with officers of five divisions on Monday morning to discuss the raids, sources added.
The searches were reportedly conducted from 11 am till late in the night. During the campaign for the recently concluded Munugode bypoll, many Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leaders had complained about the transactions from SIML to accounts of individuals and alleged that the money was for bribing voters to cast their ballot for the BJP candidate, Rajagopal Reddy.
Paid taxes as per norms till Sept: Firms
Officials reviewed invoices, sale reports and details of contracts, sub-contracts and service contracts, among other documents, during the searches. The employees of the firms were allegedly prohibited from leaving the premises until the searches had finished while officials had also temporarily seized the mobile phones of several high-ranking employees.
Sources said the firms had failed to pay the State tax for the last two months and alleged that the company had violated the filing of GSTR 1 and GSTR 2 forms in the current fiscal year.
However, representatives of the company said they had paid taxes till September 30 and the payment for only the last month was pending as they had not received confirmation for the previous payments. They said they had the time to pay service tax before March 2023 under the name of returns revised tax.
As it happened
Senior officials hold meeting with officers of five divisions
Raids start at 11 am
Employees of firms prohibited from leaving the premises until the searches are complete
MONEY SENT TO BRIBE VOTERS, ALLEGES TRS
During the campaign for the recently concluded Munugode bypoll, TRS leaders had complained about the transactions from SIML to accounts of individuals and alleged that the money was for bribing voters to cast their ballot for the BJP candidate, Rajagopal Reddy