Chandigarh, December 5
Income tax sleuths took the Punjabi entertainment industry by a storm today as they raided the premises of some Punjabi singers, film distributors and producers.

Raids were conducted at around 25 premises in Mohali, Rajpura, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and some other places on the directions of Director, Investigations, Harjit Singh Sohi. Raiding teams comprised officials from across the state.

Income tax sleuths swooped on film distributor firms Batra Films and Speed Films and Records, singer Miss Pooja, singer-turned-actors Gippy Grewal and Daljit Dosanjh, besides film producer Darshan Pal Singh Grewal, who produced the recent Punjabi hit “Jat and Juliet”.

“Raids started in the morning and till now we have seized around Rs 25 lakh. Some undeclared bank accounts have also come into our notice. A detailed report will be prepared after the completion of raids and only then we will come to know about the exact amount of unaccounted money with these people,” said HS Sohi.

A report from Patiala said some cash and gold ornaments were seized from the residence of singer Miss Pooja during a raid at her residence in Rajpura. A team of officials swooped on her house in the morning and policemen did not allow anyone inside. Income tax officials refused to divulge any details about the raid.

“I cannot comment on the recoveries, but our scrutiny is still on,” said Raman Garg, Deputy Director, Income Tax, Patiala. Miss Pooja is one of the top Punjabi singers with hundreds of songs to her credit. Recently, she has sung for some Bollywood movies as well.

A report from Mohali said income tax sleuths raided the residence of Punjabi singer and actor Gippy Grewal at Sector 67 here. A 10-member team from Ludhiana, including a woman official, reached the actor’s house around 7.30 am. Gippy was not present at his house at that time. The security guard said he was away to Bangkok to attend a function.

Sources said the officials quizzed his wife and PA and also took into their custody all mobile phones found in the house as well as certain documents and files. The raid was on at the time of filing of this report.

According to a report from Jalandhar, income tax officials conducted raids at the premises of eight business establishments, including music companies. Raiding teams from Jalandhar, Amritsar and Ludhiana reached the premises of these business establishments in private vehicles early in the morning and carried out search and seizure operations.

The teams raided the office of singer Miss Pooja at Sanjay Gandhi market, house of Punjabi film producer Batra in Chhoti Bardari, house of film distributor Billa Sahni in Jyoti Nagar, office of news channel Fastway near BMC Chowk, office of the Speed Films and Records in Model Town and its owner’s residence at Maqsudan.

(With inputs from Manav Mander, Aman Sood, Akash Ghai and Bipin Bhardwaj)