Sasikala's Rs 100 crore bungalow in Payyanur attached by Income Tax Dept under Benami Act

The Income Tax Department on Wednesday attached properties of expelled AIADMK leader VK Sasikala's bungalow and other properties under the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act.

The bungalow worth nearly Rs 100 crore is located in the Payyanur village near Siruthavur, in the Kanchipuram district. The properties spread across 24 acres were reportedly bought between 1991 and 1996 when Sasikala's close aide late Ms Jayalalithaa was the Chief Minister of the state.

Last year, the IT Department had attached about 65 properties belonging to Sasikala and her associates in Chennai. The close confidante of late Jayalalithaa is facing the department's heat as her assets, worth over Rs 2,000 crore are now under the Benami Transaction Act.

Sasikala had returned to Tamil Nadu in February this year after serving a four-year jail term in Bengaluru. The 66-year-old politician was lodged in prison since February 2017 following her conviction in Rs 66 crore disproportionate assets case.

She was charged with hatching a criminal conspiracy with ex-CM Jayalalithaa and amassing wealth that was disproportionate to her source of income. The palatial white mansion at Kodanad tea estate in the Nilgiris and the infamous Siruthavur bungalow are among the various properties that have been under the IT department's radar. 

Sasikala's properties seized by IT Dept

In 2019, the IT department had attached Sasikala's properties worth Rs 1,600 crore under the provisions of the Benami Act. In 2017, the IT sleuths had raided about 187 properties believed to be linked to the former AIADMK leader and her relatives. The department also unearthed alleged tax evasion of about Rs 1,430 crore.

It was found that Sasikala, along with her sister-in-law J Ilavarasi and Jayalalithaa's foster son VN Sudhakaran, held huge properties in their names worth crores of rupees from July 1991 to April 1996, though they did not have such a source of income.