The Income Tax Department on Wednesday reportedly raided the houses of filmmakers Anurag Kashyap and Vikas Bahl, and leading Bollywood actress Taapsee Pannu in connection with Kashyap’s production house Phantom Films. Simultaneous raids are being
Conducted in 20 other locations apart from the residences of these celebrities in Mumbai and Pune. The Income Tax department has alleged tax evasion as the reason behind the raids.
Crackdown on Kashyap and Pannu did not surprise NCP
While some Bollywood stars like Swara Bhaskar, Anubhav Sinha, tweeted in support of Kashyap and Taaspsee. Maharashtra minister and NCP chief spokesperson Nawab Malik said, “Central agencies like ED, CBI, and Income Tax are being used to target those who take an anti-government stand and speak against the policies of the regime.”
PWD minister Ashik Chavan said this is not new. “We have been seeing this as happening often. Those who put forth facts are being pressurised in this way so that they don’t speak up.”
“They work with so much vengeance. They don’t want anyone to enjoy the freedom a democracy gives. For them, it is an autocratic rule and whatever they say is right and whatever others want to say is wrong,” Maharashtra women and child development minister Yashomati Thakur said.