65 Crores Reportedly Found From Film Financier As Actor Vijay Questioned

Chennai: Income Tax Department officials discovered Rs 65 crore during raids against a powerful financier in the Tamil film industry, sources said, while yesterday they also interrogated actor Vijay.

Income tax officials searched the properties of AGS cinemas and financier Anbu Cheliyan in Madurai and interrogated Vijay about an alleged tax evasion case. Vijay's home in Chennai was also registered yesterday.

"The counting continues again and the total seizure is likely to increase," said one official. Authorities say their investigation revealed uncounted transactions between Anbu Cheliyan and Vijay, after which the actor's home on East Coast Road on the outskirts of Chennai was ransacked. Vijay is also being questioned today. AGS Cinemas produced the blockbuster Vijay-starrer Bigil last year.

Vijay, the son of veteran director SA Chandrasekhar, is believed to promote political ambitions.

"The AGS group and the financier have been under our surveillance for some time regarding their films," said an officer with whom NDTV spoke.

The BJP in Tamil Nadu and the AIADMK ruling opposed his film Mersal, launched in October 2017, to contain dialogues seen as critical of the goods and services tax (GST) and the ban on notes.
The BJP had requested cuts to Mersal, arguing that some dialogues describe "falsehoods" about GST and the center's Indian digital campaign.

Authorities denied reports that the actor was escorted by them to Chennai from his filming location in the Cuddalore district yesterday. "We were extremely polite. It was Vijay who chose to end up and go home where his wife was when the searches were conducted. We know he's a big star and our senior officers had given specific instructions to treat him with the utmost courtesy.", said the official.

After the implementation of the GST, approximately 1,000 cinemas in Tamil Nadu had been closed for days to protest the imposition of the local body tax in addition to the GST.

The searches were conducted at 38 locations in Tamil Nadu. Income tax officials say research is based solely on evidence and that no political connotation should be given.

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