Tamil Nadu: The Income Tax Department raids seven locations owned by businesspeople and real estate companies.

COIMBATORE ERODE, CHENNAI: On Tuesday, income tax investigators conducted concurrent searches at various locations in Chennai, Coimbatore, Erode, and Namakkal that were connected to real estate firms, pumpset manufacturers, and construction companies operating in Coimbatore and Erode.

Searches were conducted at 7 locations in Coimbatore and 10 locations in Chennai, including Aminjikarai, Anna Nagar, Egmore, and Kilpauk. When someone entered or left certain premises, armed paramilitary soldiers would stand watch.

One of the teams traveled to Coimbatore and paid a visit to Real Value Land Promoters’ Pattanam house, which is owned by DMK official Ramanathan.

A second team of IT officers searched the staff quarters of Real Value Land Promoters at Ramalingam Nagar in Naickenpalayam and the home of Ramanathan’s son Sornakarthik at Ruby Garden in Sulur.

Two other groups of people paid visits to the homes on Kalapatti Road belonging to Sadasivam and Balasubramaniam, the managing directors of Green Field Housing India Private Limited, in Mohan Nagar and Iyappa Nagar, respectively.

Another team searched Vignesh, the president of the Southern India Engineering Manufacturers Association (SIEMA), at his Coimbatore home on Dr. Balasundaram Road. Additionally, the Puliyakulam home of a Saravanan connected to Suguna Pumps was searched.

The searches were carried out to look for possible instances of tax avoidance, according to I-T department sources.

The 60-year-old construction contractor V Sathyamoorthy, who is based in Namakkal town, had many properties, including his house, searched in Namakkal.

For the state government’s PWD, Tamil Nadu Housing and Urban Development, and TWAD programs, the contractor has been building a number of buildings. The house’s paperwork, accounting records, computer, and laptops were taken by the I-T officers.

Similarly, four locations owned by PV Infra Projects in Periyar Nagar and CMK Projects Private Limited in Kanjikoil were searched by I-T inspectors. There had been a flurry in those locations due to the simultaneous searches.