In a first, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary in Income-Tax net

“As many as 600 I-T sleuths raided at least 13 different locations of the CS’ homes and offices of his son Vivek Rao and other family members. The officials are said to have recovered Rs 30 lakh new currencies during the raids, of which Rs 24 lakh was seized from his son’s in-law’s place in Chitoor. Five kilograms of gold was seized from different places during the searches. Documents worth Rs 5 crore was seized from the possession of Vivek. 

From Rao’s office, documents, SIM cards and mobile phones were seized. Sources said that the raids had begun on Tuesday night at the Chittoor and Bengaluru properties owned by Rao and his close associates. A team of 275 sleuths who had split into two groups proceeded to Chittoor and Bengaluru. At Chittoor, the office of an alleged associate of the CS, identified as Selvaraj was raided. Around 70 Income Tax officials from the Bengaluru bureau also joined them. Since Wednesday morning, simultaneous raids began in properties belonging to the CS and his kin in different parts of the city including Mint, Alwarpet and Ponneri. 

At 5.30 am, a team of 20 I-T officials reached the top bureaucrat’s residence on Sixth Main Road, Anna Nagar, where he had been residing for the past seven years and conducted the raid all through the day. Additional Director Prema and Additional Income Tax Joint Director (Investigations) Roy Jose were present at the Anna Nagar residence during the survey of asset documents and raids. A posse of CRPF personnel were deployed on the premises of the house. State police were not roped in by the agency. 

By 6 am, I-T personnels arrived and commenced raids at the apartment of his son Vivek Rao in Tiruvanmayur. His offices at Valsaravakkam and Kodambakkam were also included in the mega operation. Speaking to DTNext, an I-T official said that around 350 officials fanned out to carry the raids in the city. While one team focused on searches at a business associate’s residence in Anna Nagar East, another team covered Rao’s daughter’s residence in Manapakkam.   Sekhar Reddy is alleged to have close ties with Rama Mohana Rao for the past several years.