Gutka scam: NBW issued against three in Chennai

CHENNAI: Irked at the non-cooperation of three people, accused in the six-year-old multi-crore ‘Ghutka scam’ case, a city court has issued non-bailable arrest warrant against three persons.
The additional chief metropolitan magistrate for economic offences issued the NBWs against A V Madhava Rao, P V Srinivasa Rao, Thallam Uma Sankar Gupta of Annamalai Industries, from whose godown the income tax department sleuths recovered diaries in 2017, having details of tax evasion to the tune of more than 200 crore in two years.
Sources said that while the accused regularly appeared before the MP/MLA court in connection with the ED case on the same issue, they did not appear before the additional chief metropolitan magistrate. The fifth accused in the tax evasion case, Vignesh, did not appear before the court and consecutive summons ordered by the court were not received by him. Now that NBWs have been issued, the onus is on the state police to secure them and produce them before the court during the next hearing, slated for April 24.