The I-T department searches were carried out across 30 locations in Mumbai and Pune, also covered Reliance Entertainment group CEO Shibhasish Sarkar and some executives of celebrity and talent management company KWAN, officers said. The raids began in the morning and were continuing till late evening.

The action is part of a probe against Phantom Films, which was dissolved in 2018, and its then promoters Kashyap, director-producer Vikramaditya Motwane, producer Vikas Bahl and producer-distributor Madhu Mantena.

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Gathering more evidence
The I-T department sources said some inter-linked transactions between the entities raided are under the scanner of the department. The raids, they added, are aimed at gathering more evidence to further investigate the tax evasion allegations against them.

The business transactions of films made under the banner of Phantom Films, founded in 2011, are also being probed, the sources said. The searches against Mantena are being carried out in context of his links with KWAN, of which he is a co-promoter.

Both are outspoken
Founded in 2011, his production house Phantom Films  produced films such as “Lootera”, “Queen”, “Ugly”, “NH 10”, “Masaan” and “Udta Punjab”. Both Kashyap and Pannu, who worked together in the 2018 film Manmarziyaan and are now collaborating for film Dobaara, are known to be outspoken about their views on a range of issues.

Anurag Kashyap

Responding to a question at a press conference in Delhi, Union minister Prakash Javadekar rejected allegations that the raids against Kashyap and Pannu were linked to their comments, which are seen at times critical of the BJP.

“This is too much,” he said of the question. “Probe agencies undertake investigations based on credible information and the matter later goes to courts as well,” he added.

In Maharashtra, the debate intensified with state minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik describing the searches as an attempt to suppress the voices of those who speak against the Narendra Modi-led government.

“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,” the minister told reporters in Mumbai.

“The premises of Anurag Kashyap and Pannu have been raided. Both were raising their voices against the Modi government,” he said.

‘Taapsee’s last tweet’
Pannu’s last tweet was on March 1, when she spoke on the Supreme Court asking a man accused of repeated rape whether he was willing to marry the 18-year-old victim. The actor, 33, put out a strong-worded post on the matter. Kashyap, who had visited JNU and Shaheen Bagh during the anti-CAA protests last year and is known to be equally outspoken, has been quiet on Twitter of late except for occasional retweeting.

The 48-year-old filmmaker, one of the most prominent new directors in Hindi cinema, is the man behind “Black Friday”, “Dev D” and the two-part crime saga “Gangs of Wasseypur”.