In the guise of wedding party guests, IT officials raid P Chidambaram's kin

Officials who arrived at around 8 am, continued to carry out raids through the evening.

Officials from the Income Tax Department in Karnataka took raids to the next level on Wednesday. Officials conducted raids on properties belonging to former Union minister P Chidambaram's kin but what caught the eye was their arrival. Officials, at least 50 in number, arrived as members of a wedding party in decorated cars. Raids were conducted on SLN group owned by Vishwanathan and Sathappan, Chidambaram's nephews. Properties belonging to the duo in Kushalanagar and Koppa were searched.

Teams comprising 15 officials each searched 11 branches of the SLN group belonging to the brothers including their coffee curing unit, offices of instant coffee units on Mangaluru road, a petrol bunk and a luxury hotel. Raids were also conducted at the residences of Vishwanathan and Sathappan. Sources suggested that raids were simultaneously conducted at Polibetta in Kodagu and Chettinad in Tamil Nadu.

Officials are said to have seized documents pertaining to businesses and properties during the raid. Officials who arrived at around 8 am, continued to carry out raids through the evening. The raids seem to be a fallout of searches that were conducted at Chidambaram's son Karthi's properties by the department.

Sources from the income tax department claimed that the sheer number of officials being mobilised for the searches could have compromised the secrecy. In a bid to keep the operation a secret, officials decided to pose as a wedding party. They took the act seriously, so much so that one of the decorated cars even displayed a board with a couple's name.

Searches were carried out as Mysuru police stood guard. Kodagu police were not informed of the raids beforehand. While the searches took place on Wednesday, no official statement has been issued by the Income Tax department.

OneIndia News