Bollywood actor Sonu Sood evaded tax worth over Rs 20 cr, claims IT dept

The CBDT said in a statement they had found "incriminating evidence pertaining to tax evasion" during the search operation on the premises of the actor and his associates.

The Income Tax Department on Saturday said that Bollywood actor Sonu Sood and his aides had evaded tax worth over Rs 20 crore following the raid of three days at his Mumbai residence. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a statement that they had found "incriminating evidence pertaining to tax evasion" during the search operation on the premises of the actor and his associates.

“The main modus operandi followed by the actor had been to route his unaccounted income in the form of bogus unsecured loans from many bogus entities,” an official said. The CBDT added that around 28 premises in various cities such as Mumbai, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jaipur, Delhi, Gurugram were searched during the operation.

Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Shiv Sena attacked the Centre for the timing of the raids. Recently, it was announced that Sonu Sood would be the brand ambassador of the AAP government’s “Desh ka Mentor” programme with an aim to provide guidance to students on career choices. The parties alleged that tax raids were conducted after the Delhi and Punjab governments tried to join hands with him.