Major IT Raids In Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh

In what could be termed as a large-scale IT raids conducted simultaneously in the two states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, IT officials raided offices in more than 100 locations across five cities in these states. More than 500 tax officials are reported to be part of this raid, which is expected to go on till Friday.

Chennai

The houses of S Vaikundarajan , owner of VV Minerals and his relatives and also a few company employees were raided by the officials. VV Minerals is one of India's largest miner and exporter of rare earth minerals.

Raids were being conducted at the offices of the company in Tamil Nadu’s Chennai, Tuticorin, Tirunelveli, Karaikal and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.

Visakhapatnam

Transworld Garnet India (TGI) Private Limited, an associate of VV Minerals, located in the special economic zone (SEZ) at Duvvada in Visakhapatnam was also raided yesterday. It is alleged that TDP leader Devender Goud is also closely associated with this company.

Also Read: IT Raids Duvvada SEZ Companies In Vizag

The officials also conducted search operations on the premises of a tax auditor Muralikrishna engaged by the VV Minerals located in MVP Colony of Visakhapatnam .

Srikakulam

Offices of the TGI in Sathivada, Gara Mandal in Srikakulam were also raided. It is also believed that the residence of Nadukuditi Eswar Rao, TDP leader and businessman (who was also associated with Navayuga Engineering Company and was also a director for several small scale industries) in Nadukuditipalem , Bantupalli Panchayath in Ranasthalam was raided by the officials.

Searches are going on in the offices of RVR Constructions and also in a few realtors office in Akkayapalem. They also searched offices of BMP a company in Bangarammapeta, Nakkapalli Mandal. BMP has its head office in Chennai and has offices in Nakkapalli and Srikakulam districts.

VV Minerals S Vaikundarajan

Established in 1989 by S Vaikundarajan, VV Minerals manufactures and exports garnet, ilmenite and rutile and is under the IT scanner since 2017 for the illegal export of minerals and beach sand. It is alleged that through this illegal mining and for the profits earned and alleged violation of tax laws pertaining to these illegal transactions, has put him under the IT lens .

Considered to be a very powerful mining baron in Tamil Nadu, he is both worshipped and feared in his southern fiefdom of Tirunelveli. Also believed to have a clout with several leaders in both AIADMK and other parties, he is also reported to be close to VK Sasikala, late CM Jayalalitha's confidante and had large shares in her TV Channel Jaya TV.

His illegal mining of beach sands in coastal Tamil Nadu was first exposed by a Chennai Journalist Sandhya Ravishankar. Vaikundarajan is alleged to have looted 13,70,409.28 metric tonnes of beach sand from Tamil Nadu. The journalist now faces death threats for reporting this story in 2017 and till date has two policeman protecting her from harm.

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