“The tougher part of checking, cross-checking and evaluating if our doubts hold any water still remains,” said another I-T officer. While the search at Katrina’s residence concluded on Monday, it took as long as Tuesday evening for the I-T officials to finish searching the various premises belonging to Chopra and her family. “Chopra seems to have invested quite a bit in property. She has eight to 10 flats in Mumbai alone. Five of them are at Raj Classic where she has converted three flats into one and the other two have been clubbed for another flat,” said an I-T official on condition of anonymity.
The delay in finishing the search was also because of the actor’s mother Madhu Chopra’s absence. She reportedly had details of the properties, investments etc and had to be questioned by the authorities. “Her mother was out of town. She came straight from the airport on Monday evening, and so she was given some time to rest and settle down and was questioned on Tuesday,” said the officer.
Over 70 I-T officials raided 12 sites and sealed a dozen lockers and documents belonging to actors Kaif and Chopra from their residences and offices on Monday. The I-T sleuths also raided the house of photographer Atul Kasbekar, Chopra’s business manager Chand Mishra and Kaif’s office staff.
“We will now check the data collected from all these premises to come to a conclusion of whether it is a case of tax-evasion indeed and, if yes, how much tax has been evaded. We are checking the details for the past few years as we have the power of checking records of seven years for an individual,” said the officer.