The Income Tax Department raided Sonu Sood’s Mumbai home and offices associated to the actor in Lucknow on Wednesday. According to an NDTV source in the IT department, “A recent deal between Sonu Sood’s company and a Lucknow-based real estate firm is under the scanner. The survey operation has been initiated on allegations of tax evasion on this deal.”
The raid follows the high-profile meeting of Sonu with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who appointed him as the brand ambassador for his government’s mentorship programme for school students in the capital. Later, the actor denied ever having made a political debut with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
According to NDTV, Asif Bhamla, a spokeswoman for the Bharatiya Janata Party, denied on the raids relating it to Sood’s meeting with the Delhi chief minister. “There is no relation to that,” he said. Further he added, “Any personality can meet anyone. It is just a search, not a raid. It’s on a tipoff.”
Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party has come out in favour of the actor. Mr Arvind Kejriwal took to Twitter and stated that there were millions of obstacles in the path of truth, but truth always triumphed. “Sonu Sood has the blessings of lakhs of families, whom he had helped during their difficult times,” he tweeted.
Not only that, but many more politicians came out in support of Sonu Sood, denying that the actor could do anything criminal. This isn’t the first time Sonu Sood’s home has been searched. He was among the Bollywood celebrities that were raided in 2012 for possible tax evasion.
The 48-year-old actor has been in films for over two decades, but it was his incredible help that he did to people during the pandemic had catapulted him to stardom. Sonu Sood received widespread acclaim for his humanitarian efforts during the pandemic.
