Pushpa 2 director Sukumar's residence, home raided by Income Tax officials

Pushpa 2 director Sukumar faced a surprise Income Tax raid on Wednesday, with officials descending upon his home and office in the early hours. Sukumar, who was at the airport at the time, was escorted back to his residence by IT officials, where the raids were conducted. The searches lasted for several hours, but details about the purpose and outcome of the raid have not been revealed yet.

The IT raid on his properties has marred Sukumar's success with Pushpa 2: The Rule, which has earned over Rs 1500 crore. So far, the Income Tax Department has not issued any official statement in connection with the recent raids. 

Earlier, around 55 teams from the Income Tax department conducted surprise raids at over eight locations in the city, starting early in the morning and continuing until late evening. The raids targeted the offices and properties of Pushpa 2 film producers Naveen Yerneni and Ravi Shankar Yelamanchili, founders of Mythri Movie Makers. 

Ram Charan’s Game Changer’s producer Dil Raju's properties were also raided by IT officials. The officials are investigating producer Raju for alleged tax evasion, scrutinizing financial records and transactions to uncover potential discrepancies. Raju is a renowned figure in Telugu cinema, has produced several films, including Tamil and Hindi projects, through his company Sri Venkateswara Creations. This move is part of a broader probe into unaccounted income and financial irregularities. However, reports suggest that this is a routine search conducted on film personalities. 

Meanwhile, Sukumar’s Pushpa 2 continues to draw audiences worldwide, now in its seventh week of theatrical release. In a new development, a reloaded version of the film, titled Pushpa 2: The Rule Reloaded, hit theatres on January 17, featuring an additional 20 minutes of footage, bringing the total runtime to 3 hours and 40 minutes. So far, the film has minted over Rs 1200 crore net in India and raked over Rs 1800 crore worldwide.