Nearly 30 premises of the Chettinad Group, an industrial conglomerate with interests in shipping, cement, infrastructure, real estate and healthcare business were raided on Wednesday by officials from the Income-Tax department.
Groups of sleuths from the IT department barged into offices and business establishments under the Chettinadu Group spread across the States of Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra since Wednesday morning.
Though there was no official release about the raids, sources in the Income Tax department told The Pioneer that the operation was in connection with alleged tax evasion by the Group.
The Chettinadu Group was in the news during the last fortnight following the feud between group patriarch MAM Ramaswamy (84) and his adopted son MAMR Muthiah.
It all came out in the open in August 2014 when Muthiah ousted Ramaswamy from the Chettinadu Cements director board after usurping the majority share of the group. Since then efforts were on to evict Ramaswamy from his ancestral home, the Chettinadu Palace in Chennai.
The palace in Chennai spread across 20 acres on the banks of Adyar River is worth Rs3,500 crore, according to a conservative estimate.
Ramaswamy and his late wife Sigappi had no children and hence they adopted S Ayappan in 1996 and renamed him MAMR Muthiah. After the passing away of Sigappi in 2005, Muthiah got all shares owned by her into his name. “Since then he is a changed man and is after my life,” a sobbing Ramaswamy told media persons on Tuesday.
The patriarch has filed a number of police cases against the adopted son and has solicited security. MAM Ramaswamy also disowned Muthioah on Tuesday and said that processes were on to get the adoption cancelled.