Tamil Nadu: Income Tax sleuths raid 50 offices of realty firm linked to DMK

Three days after a voice clip, in which Tamil Nadu Finance Minister P.T.R. Palanivel Thiaga Rajan purportedly stated that Udhayanidhi Stalin and his brother-in-law amassed Rs 3,000 crore in just two years, the Income Tax sleuths are conducting raids at multiple locations linked to a real estate firm, which has its head office in Chennai. The searches have also come after Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai released the property list of DMK functionaries and linked G Square, a realty company, to the DMK's first family.

The sleuths conducted searches in more than 50 locations in Chennai, Coimbatore, Hosur, Tiruchirapall, Bengaluru and Hyderabad where the company has offices. Searches are also underway at properties linked to the company in Delhi. The residence of Annanagar MLA Mohan also came under the IT scanner. His son Karthik Mohan is said to be one of the shareholders of G Square.

G Square had earlier come under the income tax scanner in 2019 and 2021 allegedly for tax evasions. In 2021, the raids happened just days before the assembly elections, as there were allegations that G Square had given funds to the DMK to fight elections.

G Square had sent out a 29-page reply, with annexures of its business model, to Annamalai, saying the ‘DMK files’ released by him had false figures. Stating that G Square has been doing business even before the DMK government came to power, it refuted the allegations made by Annamalai.

“G Square company is not owned or controlled by DMK family members. The company has been doing business for many years even before the formation of the DMK government. The construction projects of G Square and its partners have been portrayed with false values. Annamalai’s allegation about the property value of their company is completely false,” the company said.

It further said the company’s revenue holding as stated by Annamalai is not Rs 38,827.70 crore and claimed that the allegations made by the BJP chief are inaccurate. G Square said the company’s assets and liabilities are matters of public record and available with the Registrar of Companies.

“This is misleading as if the company has purchased all the lands and retained them. Basic research and verification of the encumbrance certificates that are readily available online show that the company developed the projects at different points of time and sold the plots to about 6,000 customers over the years,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, DMK cadre, on Monday, staged a protest in front of MLA Mohan’s house at Annanagar in Chennai, against the Income Tax searches.