Bollywood actor Taapsee Pannu who was raided by the Income Tax department sleuths took to Twitter after three days of “intense searching” to express her views regarding the same. In a series of tweets, she said neither does she have a bungalow in Paris, nor receipts of ₹5 crore payment to her. She even said that there was no raid in 2013 on her property either.
2. The “alleged” receipt worth 5 crores to frame n keep for future pitching coz I’ve been refused that money before
— taapsee pannu (@taapsee) March 6, 2021
3. My memory of 2013 raid that happened with me according to our honourable finance minister
— taapsee pannu (@taapsee) March 6, 2021
P.S- “not so sasti” anymore
"3 days of intense search of 3 things primarily 1. The keys of the “alleged” bungalow that I apparently own in Paris. Because summer holidays are around the corner. 2. The “alleged” receipt worth 5 crores to frame n keep for future pitching coz I’ve been refused that money before 3. My memory of 2013 raid that happened with me according to our honourable finance minister P.S- “not so sasti” anymore (sic)," wrote the actor on Twitter. ‘Sasti’ translates to ‘cheap’ from Hindi. Actor Kangana Ranaut was quoted calling Taapsee a “cheap dupe” in an earlier public feud on Twitter.
Taapsee’s reference to the 2013 raids is a response to a statement made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday, where the latter said that Taapsee, Anurag Kashyap and other associates of Phantom production house were raided in 2013 too for tax evasion, but no issue was made out then as it is being done now. It "wasn't an issue (in 2013). It's an issue now," Sitharaman said according to a report in The Hindu.
Officials of Income Tax Department conducted raids on the homes and offices of Pannu and Kashyap as well as his partners — Madhu Mantena and Vikas Bahl — who launched the now-shuttered production house Phantom Films, on Thursday.
The searches, reportedly part of a tax evasion probe against Phantom Films, were carried out across 30 locations in Mumbai and Pune, and also covered Reliance Entertainment group CEO Shibhasish Sarkar and some executives of celebrity and talent management companies KWAN and Exceed. The officials in a statement had claimed that they found “discrepancies” of nearly Rs 650 crores upon investigating them.