The recent searches at ‘Veda Nilayam’, home of late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, resulted in the seizure of crucial evidence relating to suspected tax evasion, a top official in the Income Tax department said on Tuesday.
Sleuths of the Income Tax Department’s Investigation Wing searched the rooms occupied by V.K. Sasikala, confidante of Jayalalithaa, and Poongundran, personal assistant to Jayalalithaa, on November 18. Investigators claimed that the searches were based on a specific input that some persons had conspired to clandestinely remove crucial evidence from ‘Veda Nilayam’.
Asked if the searched yielded the desired results, the official said, “We got what we were looking for.” Parrying questions on the electronic gadgets, the official said the searches that were conducted after obtaining a warrant from the designated court were “timely” and “fruitful”.
He said investigators were perusing voluminous documents, including those pertaining to assets and shell companies.
“The process of summoning the persons concerned will commence soon. We will ask them to declare their foreign investments and accounts. If they don’t disclose voluntarily, the department will invoke the provisions under the Black Money (Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets) and Imposition of Tax Act, 2015. As regards foreign accounts and investments, the matter will be referred to the Foreign Tax and Tax Research (FTTR) for investigation,” he said.
Denying reports that the I-T officials searched the estates of Jayalalithaa in Kodanad Estate and Siruthavoor, the official said the estate manager Natarajan was examined in Kodanad. “We want to make it clear that we did not enter the room used by Jayalalithaa or others in Veda Nilayam. The limited mission was confined to the rooms occupied by Sasikala and Poongundran,” he said.
