Bengaluru: In a major operation, Income Tax sleuths seized Rs 93 crore cash and Rs 409 crore worth wealth, including US dollars worth Rs 18 crore of unaccounted cash during simultaneous raids on 40 premises of controversial self-styled godman, Kalki Bhagwan, and his son Krishna’s business ventures in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, IT Department sources said.
Around 300 IT personnel involved in the search and seizure operation began the raid early on Wednesday morning and are still continuing, officials familiar with the development maintained.
According to media reports, besides cash, IT officers also seized incriminating documents about shady investments and purchase of vast tracts of land in Tamil Nadu and even in Kenya in violation of rules.
The raids followed intelligence inputs about tax evasion and financial embezzlement. Besides the sprawling headquarters of Kalki Bhagwan near Chittoor bordering Tamil Nadu, searches were also going on at 20 places in Chennai and other premises in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, IT officials said.
The 70-year-old Kalki Bhagwan alias Vijay Kumar Naidu, born at Ullanatham village near Gudiyattam in the Vellore district of Tamil Nadu, started his life as a clerk with Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). But, he quit his job to start an educational institution to provide alternative education at Rajupeta.
By the early 1990s, he started a cult-Kalki Bhagwan and began claiming that he was a 'bhagwan' or god.
Kalki claims to have supernatural powers and promises 'nirvana' or enlightenment to his devotees, which include prominent politicians, industrialists and film stars.
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