Hyderabad: The Income Tax Department continued searches at the properties of prominent film-maker and Telangana State Film Development Corporation (TSFDC) Chairman Dil Raju, Mythri Movie Makers and Mango Media in Hyderabad for the second day on Wednesday.
The searches, which began Tuesday morning, continued at various locations including Dil Raju’s residence in Ujas Villas, Jubilee Hills, his office and the premises of his relatives on Wednesday.
Several teams of IT officials were checking the financial transactions of the production houses, which made some of the major big-budget movies recently.
The searches are said to be part of investigations into the difference between their revenues and Income Tax paid. The IT sleuths were inspecting key documents including balance sheets and IT returns.
They were also checking bank lockers as part of the investigation.
Dil Raju’s wife was taken to a bank on Tuesday and lockers were opened in her presence.
Dil Raju, whose real name is V. Venkata Ramana, recently produced movies like ‘Game Changer’ and ‘Sankranthiki Vasthunam’ under the banner of Sri Venkateswara Creations.
‘Game Changer’ starring Ram Charan and Kiara Advani was released on January 10, 2025 while ‘Sankranthiki Vasthunam’ was released on the occasion of Sankranthi last week.
The film, starring Venkatesh, Aishwarya Rajesh, and Meenakshi Chaudhary, has become one of the highest-grossing films of Dil Raju.
The IT searches were also conducted at the properties of Dil Raju’s family members including daughter Hansita Reddy, producer Sireesh, who is co-owner of Sri Venkateswara Creations and director Anil Ravipudi.
Meanwhile, reacting to the IT searches, Dil Raju said that he was not the only one whose premises were searched.
He said the IT raids were being carried out on the entire film industry.
The searches were also conducted at the properties of production house Mythri Movie Makers, the makers of ‘Pushpa 2’.
The searches targeted houses of Mythri founders Naveen Yemeni and Yalamanchili Ravi Shankar, CEO Cherry and other key people associated with the leading production house.
‘Pushpa 2’ starring Allu Arjun released last month reportedly earned over Rs 1,500 crore.
(IANS)
