Ex- minister assets nearly 600 crore
Over 40 properties of former Tamil Nadu MP raided by I- T officials
Chennai: I- T investigators wrapped up the raids on the premises of DMK leader and former Union minister S. Jagathrakshakan. Sources said his estimated undisclosed income is 500 to 600 crore. Cash amounting to 22 crore was seized. Full report on
Income tax investigators on Friday wrapped up the three- day long raids and searches on the premises of former Union minister S. Jagathrakshakan. Sources revealed that the estimated undisclosed income of the DMK heavyweight and liquor baron to be around ` 500 to ` 600 crore. While sleuths seized ` 22 crore in cash, the estimate is based on the value of movable and immovable properties belonging to him, his family members and benamis.
After having raided 40 properties, including residences and offices owned and managed by the former MP and his family, the I- T sleuths are also understood to have sought several clarifications from him on the money seized and the undisclosed income. This was one of the biggest I- T raids on a former Union minister in recent memory with the IT department deploying more than 380 taxmen in the raids over the past three days. Properties belonging to Mr Jagathrakshakan and his family in neighbouring Puducherry also came under the I- T net as the former minister of state for information and broadcasting was barred from using his mobile phones since the raids began on Wednesday.
“Apart from seizure of cash, the investigators seized gold and had also dug out documents of deposits, houses and properties worth over ` 550 crore. The politician and his finance mangers are negotiating with the income tax officials to reach an agreeable disclosure amount, which is pegged at ` 500 crore by the taxmen,” sources said.
The income tax officials had conducted simultaneous raids on Jagathrakshakan’s various residences, offices, colleges, the Bharath University, Balaji dental and medical colleges and a distillery in Villupuram. The DMK leader and his family own at least a dozen colleges in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. He also owns a star hotel in T Nagar in the heart of Chennai.