Income tax officials have raided popular sweet shop/restaurant chains Adyar Ananda Bhavan and Saravana Bhavan.
Nearly 400 officials from the Chennai income tax division conducted raids at Saravana Bhavan owner, R Rajagopal’s residence and restaurants in Chennai, Tuticorin, Bangalore, Vijayawada and New Delhi. Saravana Bhavan has 34 outlets mostly in southern India with an annual turnover of Rs300mn
Adyar Ananda Bhavan has 54 restaurants - under brand name A2B - along with bakeries, ice cream parlours and vegetarian eateries with an annual turnover of Rs500mn. It was claimed that both chains have been paying less tax than their income.
Earlier, similar raids were conducted at Lion Dates Impex in Tiruchy and the SRM Group in suburban Chennai.
Actor jailed over thefts
Small-time actor Senthil was arrested for taking to theft to finance his upcoming film Vidalai Pattalam at Vadapalani in Chennai.
Senthil had acted in a minor role in the Tamil hit film Vennilla Kabbadi Kuzhu. He launched his own film to cast himself in the lead. The actor stole over 50 gold coins and sold it for Rs20mn to finance his movie. Meanwhile actor Leena Maria Paul, arrested for cheating along with her boyfriend Sukash Chandrasekhar, was released on bail from Puzhal prison in Chennai last week. Leena has worked in Malayalam movies Red Chillies, Husbands in Goa and Cobra.
‘Dead’ woman calls family
A Chennai-based housewife presumed dead phoned up her home to tell her family that she was alive in Coimbatore. Ganga Devi was reported missing by her husband Saravanan on July 13. Two days later, police found a naked woman’s body in a gunny bag at Kaveripakkam, which Ganga Devi’s family and Sarvanan wrongly identified as hers.
However on reading about her ‘death’ in the newspapers, Ganga called to tell her family that she had eloped with her lover Karthik to Coimbatore. Police removed Karthik’s name from the suspect list and have begun investigations into the gunny bag murder.
Man held for mosque attack
A 23-year-old man was arrested for hurling a bomb at a mosque in suburban Coimbatore. Mathiazhagan was identified based on complaints of one of the mosque trustees who spotted him fleeing on his bike. Mathiazhagan confessed he was a Hindu Munnani party sympathiser and had wanted to ‘avenge’ the killings of some Hindu leaders in recent weeks. Meanwhile the Tamil Nadu government has constituted a team to trace the murderers of leaders P Ramesh in Salem and Vellaiyan in Vellore district. Investigations are underway.
Court stays hotel demolition
The Madras High Court has stayed the November 2012 demolition order on the heritage Buhari hotel and other buildings nearby for the proposed Chennai Metro Rail project. The court ruled that the building owners should be given adequate notice and time to respond to the order. A fresh ruling asking them to respond by August 16 this year has been issued.
Student hit by speeding bus dies
Despite strict regulations on buses carrying school children, a 10-year-old boy died when his head was smashed by a passing bus at Periyapalayam in suburban Chennai. Class IV student E Suresh died instantly. The Tamil Nadu School Van Private Vehicles Federation has pulled up the school management for not installing grilles and protective glass on bus windows carrying small children.