Amid high drama, officials from the Income Tax (I-T) department’s Investigation Wing stormed NLC India Ltd’s campus in Cuddalore district and persuaded actor Vijay, who was shooting for his latest film Master there, to return to Chennai to aid their investigation.
With a warrant issued under the provisions of Section 132 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, the officials explained to the actor that he had to accompany them and cooperate in the ongoing search operation at his Chennai residence. Accompanied by the Assistant Commissioner of Income Tax (Investigation), the actor then left the shoot during a break for lunch, officials told The Hindu on Wednesday.
“We had information that he had taken a huge amount in cash towards salary for his recent film Bigil,” said one of the officials. The film, touted as one of the highest grossing Tamil movies of 2019, was produced by AGS Entertainment.
Earlier in the day, special teams of the Investigation Wing, probing allegations of tax evasion, launched simultaneous searches at the premises of AGS Group, including AGS Cinemas, film financier Anbu Chezhiyan and the premises of Vijay in Chennai, Madurai and a few other places. The officials decided to question the actor after his wife pleaded ignorance about some documents, officials said.
“In the case of Anbu, we have found unaccounted cash of ₹40 crore in Chennai and ₹17 crore in Madurai,” a senior I-T official said.