IT raids on Tollywood producer Dil Raju continue for fourth day

Hyderabad, Jan 24 The Income Tax Department continued searches at the premises of well-known producer Dil Raju for a fourth day on Friday.

A team of IT officials led by a woman officer continued searches at the producer's house Ujas Villas in Jubilee Hills.

Dil Raju, whose real name is V. Venkata Ramana Reddy, is chairman of Telangana Film Federation Development Corporation (TGFDC).

The IT department has completed the searches at the house of Dil Raju's brother, who is also a producer.

The searches at the premises of Dil Raju and his kin are related to the production of films 'Game Changer' and 'Sankranthiki Vasthunam'.

The two movies produced by Dil Raju under the banner of Sri Venkateswara Creations were released recently.

'Gama Changer', starring Ram Charan and Kiara Advani, was released on January 10, 2025.

'Sankranthiki Vasthunam' was released on Sankranti last week. The film, starring Venkatesh, Aishwarya Rajesh, and Meenakshi Chaudhary, has become one of the highest-grossing films of the eminent producer.

The IT sleuths are looking into financial transactions for the production of movies. They are inspecting key documents including balance sheets and IT returns.

They checked the bank lockers as part of the investigation. Dil Raju's wife Tejaswini was taken to a bank on Tuesday and lockers were opened in her presence.

For the last three days, the IT officials also searched the premises of the leading production houses Mythri Movie Makers and Mango Media.

The department has not yet come out with a statement about the searches but it is believed that it identified a mismatch between the revenues earned by some recent movies and the income tax paid.

The searches at Mythri Movie Makers are related to the blockbuster 'Pushpa 2: The Rule' starring Allu Arjun which is reported to have done a business of Rs 1,500 crore.

The searches were also carried out at the premises of Myrthi founders Naveen Yemeni and Yalamanchili Ravi Shankar, CEO Cherry and other key people associated with the leading production house. The IT officials on Wednesday also carried out a raid on 'Pushpa 2' director Sukumar's office and other premises.

Source: IANS