The raids will continue on Wednesday.
Income Tax authorities today launched simultaneous searches at nine premises of a leading firm running a chain of retail textile showrooms in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala to probe suspected tax evasion.
"We held an enquiry last night. Following that, we began the searches this morning. Searches are on at Chennai, Coimbatore and Puducherry in a total of nine premises," a top Income Tax official said.
He said the raids are "likely to continue tomorrow as well."
To a question, he said data related to sale, stocks, investments and properties were being verified.
Stating that officials were on the job "holding searches and verifying documents," he said no conclusion could be made at this stage on questions like tax compliance and suspected tax evasion.
Top echelons of the textile company including its managing director were being questioned, he said.