HYDERABAD: Sleuths of the Income Tax (I-T) Department on Tuesday carried out searches in prominent construction companies in Hyderabad over irregularities in return filings in the last four years. The residences and offices of family members of Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC and former IAS officer P Venkatarami Reddy were among the ones raided by the I-T officials.
As many as 51 teams raided the residences of the chairpersons, directors, promoters and executive directors of the companies and their head offices in Madhapur, Gachibowli, Jubilee Hills, Tellapur and other localities. Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel accompanied the teams during the raids, which began early in the day and went on till late at night. Sources said that the companies though in operation for almost 25 years, irregularities were found in the filing of returns for the last four fiscal years. Officials suspected that the firms carried out transactions through shell companies, they added.
The filings show that most of their transactions were via cash while only 30 to 40 per cent were via cheques, officials said, adding that though the companies would collect cash for pre-launch or advance bookings, the same was not reflected in the I-T return they filed.
Several small firms were also raided as officials suspected that the construction firms parked their money in them. The searches are expected to continue for another three to four days, officials said.
In 2022, I-T officials raided Vasavi, Phoenix, Vamshi Ram, Sumadura and other construction companies. On Tuesday, they carried out searches in Rajapushpa Properties Pvt Ltd, Muppa Projects India Pvt Ltd, Vertex Homes, Vasudha Pharma Pvt Ltd, Vashista Homes, Vanaja Housing Gardens, Vanaja Farms and Estates, Ekadanta Farms and Estates, Green Villa, Agro Pvt Ltd, North Point Agro Pharma, Vashista Infra Pvt Ltd, Vasudha Homes Pvt Ltd, Veda Bio, Vasudha Satellite Townships Private Limited, Vijetha Builders, VRR Infra and Vasudha Comfort Living Pvt Ltd.
The family members of MLC Venkatarami Reddy are promoters of Rajapushpa Properties Pvt Ltd. Residences of P Jayachandra Reddy, P Mahender Reddy, P Srinivas Reddy, P Sujith Reddy, P Charan Raj Reddy’s in Raja Puspa Lifestyle City, which is located in Tellapur, and their office, Rajapushpa Summit, which is located in Financial District, were searched.
Officials also conducted raids in the corporate office of Muppa Projects India Pvt Ltd in Janardhan Hills, Gachibowli. The officials also reportedly conducted raids in the residences and offices of company chairman Muppa Venkaiah Chowdary, managing director Muppa Vishnu Vardhan and project director K Rajasekhar.
The sleuths also searched the office of Vertex Homes, which is located at Jubilee Enclave in Madhapur, and the residences of MD VVR Varma and joint MD CG Murali Mohan.
Raids were conducted in Vasudha Pharma’s office in Vengal Rao Nagar and the residence and office of company promoter VM Raju, who is also the director of the Vanaja group, Vasistha group and Enclave Agro Farms Pvt Ltd. The residences and office of Vasudha group director Anand Manthena, who is also the director of North Point Agro and Shri Ram Chlorochem Pvt Ltd.
Teams of officials also held searches in the residences of Sreehari Varma and P Venkata Appaji, who are directors of Ekadanta Farms. Raids were carried out in the residence and office of Kranthi Mantena, who is the director of VRR Infra, Vasudha Satellite and Vasudha Comfort Living Pvt Ltd.