Hyderabad:
The Income Tax department today conducted searches at the residences and offices of several Telugu cinestars including Nagarjuna and his brother Venkat, sources in the department said.
The action was prompted after the Income Tax (I-T) Department sensed foul play in some land transactions done on behalf of the film personalities at Visakhapatnam recently.
"The searches were conducted at the offices and other premises of film personalities including Nagarjuna, Raviteja, Anushka and also at Annapurna Studio owned by Nagarjuna's family," sources told PTI.
Searches were also carried out at the residential premises of Shiva Prasad Reddy, who made several movies like 'Kedi' and 'Ragada' with Nagarjuna.
The I-T Department seized several documents during the operation, the sources added.
According to reports, Nagarjuna, Anushka Shetty, Ravi Teja and several other Telugu actors had recently purchased huge tracts of land near the beach town of Bhimili.
The Bhimili Court in Visakhapatnam district recently issued summons to Anushka in connection with a land dispute.
The court issued summons to Anushka as she did not turn up for the hearing in the case.
Anushka had reportedly bought the disputed land between Madhurawada and Bhimili Road in the district for a cost of Rs 5 crore.
Nagarjuna recently developed a convention centre in the posh Madhapur area with a huge investment. His real estate properties are worth thousands of crores of rupees.
IT officials are investigating the source of income for these investments.
Ravi Teja who acted in recent blockbuster movies like 'Don Sreenu' is said to have charged huge sums as remuneration.