Income Tax department officials on Monday, December 12, carried out searches at the premises of Mythri Movie Makers, a leading Telugu film production house. Teams of I-T officials were conducting simultaneous searches at the houses and offices of the top executives of the firm in Hyderabad since Monday morning. The officials were reportedly checking the records of the production company to ascertain if the company paid tax on its income.
Searches were carried out at 15 locations including the houses of the producers, Yelamanchili Ravi Shankar and Naveen Erneni. The I-T officials are said to be focussing on the financial transactions of the firm, in view of complaints of alleged tax evasion. The searches were conducted on the day when Mythri Movie Makers began shooting for Pushpa: The Rule, starring Allu Arjun, which is the sequel to the hit film Pushpa: The Rise.
The top production company is known for producing some big blockbusters including Rangasthalam, Srimanthudu, Janatha Garage, Dear Comrade, Sarkaru Vari Pata, and Uppena. It is also gearing up for its next big project, Balakrishna’s Veera Simhareddy, and Chiranjeevi’s Waltair Veeraiah, which also has actor Ravi Teja appearing in a special role.
Earlier, Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials had questioned director Puri Jagannadh and Charmee Kaur, the makers of the Vijay Devarakonda and Ananya Panday starrer Liger. Later, actor Vijay Devarakonda was also questioned, reportedly over his remuneration.