Day 5: I-T officials question Jaya TV CEO Vivek & kin

CHENNAI: The five-day income tax searches at premises owned by jailed AIADMK leader V K Sasikala, her relatives and associates have exposed investments in properties worth Rs 1,430 crore, Rs 7.14 crore cash and jewellery worth Rs 5 crore, said a senior I-T official.
Sleuths have also seized a considerable amount of diamond jewellery from various premises, which is yet to be valued.Sixteen bank lockers have been frozen so far, said the official.
Officials said they collected property documents from the premises of Sasikala’s nephew and Jaya TV CEO Vivek Jayaraman, his sister Krishna Priya and their auditor. I-T investigation wing officials took Vivek to their office at Nungambakkam around 6pm for questioning. Vivek’s brother-in-law Prabu, who has been at his house for the past five days during the searches, was taken for questioning too.
Cash amounting to Rs 55 lakh was seized from Sasikala’s brother V Dhivaharan’s women’s college at Mannargudi, the official said. From Dhivaharan’s daughter Rajamathangi’s house in Chennai, sleuths seized documents pertaining to import of foreign cars. “We are probing the modus operandi of the imports,” said the official.
Thorough search of both tea estates could take many days, say officials
So far only estate manager S Nataraj’s premises have been searched.
He is in charge of Kodanad estate, measuring 890 acres and the adjoining 642-acre Curzon estate, which was annexed to the group a couple of years ago. Green tea from Curzon is highly valued and is fully exported.
A thorough search of the two tea estates could take many days, said officials. Intelligence agencies have been keeping a watch on the activities at the estate ever since former chief minister J Jayalalithaa was hospitalised last year. Asked about the possibility of searching the premises in the absence of Sasikala, a senior official said, “As per the Income Tax Act and rules, we are empowered to execute search warrants on the custodian of the premises. It is not mandatory that the owner should be present at the time of the search. Once the warrant is served, the premises remain under the control of the I-T department till the searches are over.”
In the searches conducted so far, a room in Sasikala’s brother V Dhivaharan’s women’s college at Mannargudi in Tiruvarur district has been sealed. Many valuables including diamond jewellery and Swiss watches were recovered from unoccupied hostel rooms at the college, officials confirmed. Officials have also sealed an underground room at Dhinakaran’s farm house near Puducherry as they were not able to open the electronic lock of the cellar.