The officials of Income-Tax (I-T) Department on Wednesday conducted simultaneous raids on Ramanaidu Studios in Hyderabad and other premises owned by popular Tollywood producer Daggubati Suresh Babu. The searches are underway against another biggie S Radha Krishna, who owns production houses, Haarika and Hassine Creations and Sitara Entertainments.
“The raid began early in the morning on Wednesday and media reports suggest that officials are going through I-T returns filed by the production house over the last few years, to examine alleged tax evasion,” said the sources.
The raids are expected to continue until Wednesday evening. Some documents were also examined and seized by the officials, media reports added. An official statement is yet to be issued and further details are awaited.
According to information, the searches are on in 25 locations across Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai and Visakhapatnam. A majority of the locations are properties owned by Telangana-based film production house owners.
Ironically, both production houses are readying to release their new films. Haarika and Hassine is all set to release its next movie ‘Ala vaikunthapurramuloo’ starring Allu Arjun, while Sitara Entertainment’s last production was Premam, remake of 2015 Malayalam film . The romantic drama featured Naga Chaitanya and Shruti Hasan.
According to sources, the sleuths are suspecting massive tax evasions in production, distribution and exhibition earnings. Ramanaidu Studio is set for a December release of ‘Venky Mama’ that stars the uncle-nephew duo Venkatesh and Naga Chaitanya.
Over the last ten years, given the drop in earnings from movie productions, Ramanaidu Studio has ventured into film distribution and exhibits. The other source of revenue is the theatre chain they own.