Sasi’s Siruthavur, Kodanad properties attached
Ahead of her release, I-T dept seizes assets worth Rs 2,000 cr
CHENNAI: The palatial farmhouse in Siruthavur village on Old Mahabalipiram Road near Chennai and Kodanad estate in The Nilgiris, worth over Rs 2,000 crore belonging to VK Sasikala, close aid of late Chief Minister and AIADMK leader J Jayalalithaa, and her relatives, were provisionally attached by the Income Tax department under the Benami Act. A notice to this effect was stuck in front of the two properties by I-T officials on Wednesday. The two properties were the former CM’s favourite retreats.
The action came at a time when political pundits were trying to figure out the future of Sasikala when she comes out of prison in Bengaluru after along with Ilavarasi and Sudhakaran, after being convicted in a DA case. While the nearly 1000-acre Kodanad estate is in the name of Sasikala, the property at Siruthavur, between Tiruporur and Mahabalipuram, is in the name of J Ilavarasi and VN Sudhakaran, officials noted. Ilavarasi is Sasikala’s sister-in-law, while Sudhakaran is Sasi’s nephew.
I-T officials said that these properties were purchased by the three as benamis of former Chief Minister and the late AIADMK leader. “They had no income wherein they could purchase such big properties, hence purchased them as benamis since they were close to Jayalalithaa,” an official noted.
Apart from the local registration office and revenue officials, the I-T department also informed J Deepa and J Deepak, legal heirs of Jayalalithaa about the attachment . At Siruthavur, the department attached five pieces of land, measuring 55 acres. The remaining parcels of land in the 100-plus acre property were disputed to be encroached upon by Sasikala and her family. Earlier the Department had attached 84 properties, in two phases, worth over Rs 1,900 crore belonging to Sasikala and her relatives in the same manner.