IT Department denies raid linked to Tamil movie 'Mersal'

The Income Tax Department on Tuesday said it inspected the office of a film producer here on charges of not remitting over Rs 50 lakh of tax deducted at source but denied this was linked to his controversial Tamil movie "Mersal".

Without naming the producer, the IT department said the action was taken "in a routine course". But film industry sources identified the actor-producer as Vishal, who had attacked BJP leader H. Raja for watching a pirated version of "Mersal" online.

"Certain reports have appeared in both print and electronic media linking the said action to a recently released Tamil film. The Income Tax Department denies that the action taken against the film producer has anything to do with the said film," a statement said.

Vishal is also the President of the Tamil Film Producers Council (TFPC).

BJP's Raja had said he had watched some clippings of the movie online.

Raja was also among the first to give a communal twist to the controversy around actor Vijay starrer "Mersal", which has dialogues that take a dig at GST and Digital India.