Taapsee Pannu reacts to three days of income tax raids

Mumbai: Breaking her silence on the IT department raids against her, actor Taapsee Pannu on Saturday put out three tweets on an alleged bungalow in Paris, the alleged receipt of Rs 5 crore and her memory of the 2013 raid.

On March 3, the Income Tax Department searched the homes and offices of Pannu and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap as well as his partners who launched the now shuttered production house Phantom Films.

Pannu posted a three-point statement on Twitter and also took a jibe at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the actor was raided in 2013 as well.

Sitharaman on Friday said the same people were raided in 2013 as well, but no issue was made out then as it is being done now. Refusing to comment on individual cases, she said it is in the national interest to know if some evasion is happening.

The searches targeting Pannu and Kashyap, known for their outspoken views on a range of issues, is part of a tax evasion probe against Phantom Films. They also covered Reliance Entertainment group CEO Shibhasish Sarkar and some executives of celebrity and talent management companies KWAN and Exceed, officials said.

The others searched included some employees of Phantom Films, which was dissolved in 2018, and its then promoters Kashyap, director-producer Vikramaditya Motwane, producer Vikas Bahl and producer-distributor Madhu Mantena.

The business transactions of films made under the banner of Phantom Films are also being probed

Kashyap and Pannu, who worked together in the 2018 film “Manmarziyaan”, are currently filming “Dobaara”, a thriller.