Breaking her silence on the IT department raids against her, actor Taapsee Pannu shared what she thought about the incident that got her headlined last week.
Pannu, who was shooting in Pune for her upcoming film ‘Dobaaraa’, was questioned by the tax sleuths as part of the preliminary quizzing that takes place during raids.
Describing the raid as “intimidating” Taapsee told NDTV, “I answered all the questions asked by the Income Tax officers. My family and I cooperated with the IT department.”
“If there is anything wrong it will come out, I can’t hide anything. If I have done something wrong, I will serve the punishment,” she added.
When asked about what could be the reason behind these raids, Pannu said, “There is no way to confirm why I was raided. When IT raids happened, there is no option but to follow procedure.”
On Saturday, Pannu posted a three-point statement on Twitter and also took a jibe at Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that the actor was raided in 2013 as well.
Sitharaman on Friday said the same people were raided in 2013 as well, but no issue was made out then as it is being done now. Refusing to comment on individual cases, she said it is in the national interest to know if some evasion is happening.
Reacting to the same, Pannu added: “It was nice of the Finance Minister to say that it’s a procedure, don’t sensationalise it.”
On March 3, the Income Tax Department searched the homes and offices of Pannu and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap as well as his partners who launched the now shuttered production house Phantom Films.
The searches targeting Pannu and Kashyap, known for their outspoken views on a range of issues, is part of a tax evasion probe against Phantom Films. They also covered Reliance Entertainment group CEO Shibhasish Sarkar and some executives of celebrity and talent management companies KWAN and Exceed, officials said.
The others searched included some employees of Phantom Films, which was dissolved in 2018, and its then promoters Kashyap, director-producer Vikramaditya Motwane, producer Vikas Bahl and producer-distributor Madhu Mantena.
Source: Free Press Journal
