Hours long interrogation of Taapsee-Anurag, Probe will continue
Mumbai : The Income Tax Department on Wednesday raided the houses and offices of several film personalities including filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, Vikas Bahl, actress Taapsee Pannu and producer Madhu Mantena. Not only this, the Income Tax Department has interrogated Anurag and Tapsee Pannu for hours. The Income Tax Department is investigating people associated with Phantom Films. Phantom Films is accused of tax evasion. This action of the Income Tax Department is alleged by the opposition parties that it is politically motivated and has been done to suppress the voice of dissatisfaction.
An Income Tax department official said that the raids at the house of these stars started at 8 am and continued till late evening. Officials said raids were conducted at more than 30 locations in Mumbai and Pune. Some executives of celebrity and talent management company Quan have also been raided. The raids were carried out in connection with the investigation of tax evasion against Phantom Films and its promoter Anurag Kashyap, director-producer Vikramaditya Motwane, producer Vikas Bahl and producer-distributor Madhu Mantena. Production house Phantom Films was started by Anurag Kashyap, which was closed in 2018.
Another Income Tax department official said that Anurag Kashyap and Taapsee Pannu were questioned in Pune. Both of them were interrogated at a hotel in Pune and during this time, the authorities asked many questions related to the tax evasion case. Kashyap and Pannu’s houses and official premises were raided in Versova, Goregaon and Andheri. Search operation was also conducted on Pannu’s PR company KRI Entertainment. Anurag Kashyap and Taapsee Pannu have criticized many policies and leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The official said the raids were part of a tax evasion investigation against the Phantom films. Some of the transactions between these institutions were in the target of the department and the action was taken to collect evidence to pursue the investigation of tax evasion allegations, the official said.
