Ex-TN Chief Secy’s son ‘admits to Rs 17 cr unaccounted income’

Income Tax officials on Thursday claimed that former Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary P Rama Mohana Rao’s son has “admitted to a total unaccounted income of about Rs 17 crore”, a day after I-T raids were carried out at the top bureaucrat’s house, office and other premises linked to his kin in connection with a tax evasion probe.

“Vivek has admitted to a total unaccounted income of about [approximately] Rs 17 crore which includes Rs five crore disclosure made by him yesterday,” a top tax official said on the condition of anonymity.

He said disclosure of income made by Vivek happened against the backdrop of evidence gathered by tax sleuths after they zeroed in on Shekar Reddy and his associate from whose premises cash of Rs 135 crore and 177 kg gold bars were seized recently.

Vivek could not be contacted for his comment. On Thursday, Rao was replaced from the top post and Additional Chief Secretary Girija Vaidyanathan was appointed as the new Chief Secretary. 

Similarly, in related searches conducted by I-T sleuths at the premises of two individuals here — one of them a former IFS official who headed the state’s Environment Impact Assessment Authority — the duo had also admitted unaccounted money, the official said. “While the former IFS official has admitted to unaccounted money — an income of about Rs 1.1 crore, another person has admitted to Rs 1.75 crore,” the official said, adding such disclosures by them have come close on the heels of “evidence following the Shekar Reddy case”.

To a query if they had seized anything from the duo, the official said “some seizures,” without elaborating further. Continuing its crackdown on black money post demonetisation, the Income Tax department had on Wednesday searched 11 locations linked to Rao, including his official chamber and residence, besides those of his son, and claimed to have seized Rs 30 lakh in new currency and five kg gold.