Chennai: Even as a fresh round of search by income tax investigators in the vehicle and premise belonging to sand don Sekhar Reddy and his friends, resulted in the seizure of additional Rs 24 crore cash worth new notes and 50 kg gold on Saturday taking the total seizure of cash to Rs 131 crore and gold to 177 kg, worth Rs 53 crore, the case has created interest in agencies like Enforcement Directorate and CBI.
Of the total cash seized, Rs.34 crore were found to be bundles of new Rs 2,000 notes. Rs 24 crore, all new Rs 2,000 notes, were seized from a vehicle in Vellore belonging to a friend of Sekhar Reddy, a PWD sand contractor and 50 kg gold was seized from an apartment near Valluvar Kottam in Nungambakkam, sources said.
Teams from ED and CBI are there with the income tax sleuths and closely watching the developments. So far the case is handled by I-T only, and the other two agencies have not registered any case, sources said. They are just monitoring the case and if there is any need, they will register a case and start fresh probe, sources added.
“Only after we complete the procedure they will scrutinise the record and proceed, if needed,” income tax official noted. Income tax officials believe that Reddy, who enjoys enormous influence in the corridors of power in Tamil Nadu, was benami of a senior IAS officer in the state.
Meanwhile, the IT sleuths took statements from three NSC Bose Road financiers who had helped Reddy, who is known as the ‘Isuku’ (sand in Telugu) Sekhar in a sand mining circle, to change his old notes to the new notes. They reportedly told the investigators that they helped Reddy to exchange on commission basis.
The I-T raids and searches since Thursday in the premises belonging to Sekhar Reddy and his associates Srinivasa Reddy and Prem had created a ripple in the TN government and political circles because his alleged links with certain senior IAS officers and TN ministers.
“Our priority was to seize the cash and gold. Now our priority is to keep it safe, because there are lots of cash and gold. Next is to analyse the seized documents and transaction details,” a senior income tax official said when asked about the future course of action.
