Mumbai: The Income Tax department on Wednesday searched the premises of director Anurag Kashyap, actor Taapsee Pannu, film production houses Phantom Films (now dissolved), Reliance Entertainment, and talent management firms Exceed Entertainment and KWAN Talent Management Agency for alleged tax evasion.

I-T officials also reportedly questioned Kashyap and Pannu in Pune where they were shooting for a film. The department is examining the last few years’ financial records of these firms and individuals, said a senior I-T officer.

Political leaders alleged the duo was targeted by the I-T department for criticising the central government’s policies. NCP minister Nawab Malik said the Centre was suppressing their voices through such action, while RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav tweeted that the government “is chasing social activists, journalists & artists to threaten them against calling spade a spade”.

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Among the voices that claimed that filmmaker Anurag Kashyap and actress Taapsee Pannu have been ‘targeted’ by the income-tax department for criticising the central government’s policies was that of activist-lawyer Prashant Bhushan. “Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, Actor Taapsee Pannu Face Income Tax Raids. BJP’S A team at work to harass, intimidate & silence those who don't fall in line. India has never seen such malafide use of IT dept, ED, NIA, police etc,” Bhushan tweeted on Wednesday.

Income-tax officials, however, claimed that one should not “connect the searches with any other reason”. They said they had found discrepancies in the income earned by these firms/individuals and their returns filed with the department that indicates tax evasion.

The officials collected digital records and files during the searches at film production houses Phantom Films (now dissolved) and Reliance Entertainment, talent management firms Exceed Entertainment and KWAN Talent Management Agency, as well as Kashyap and Pannu.

Commissioner of Income Tax and CBDT spokesperson Surabhi Ahluwalia confirmed the searches without disclosing any names, adding that the action was related to tax evasion.

Phantom Films was dissolved two years ago after one of its promoters faced sexual harassment charges from a former employee.

A Reliance spokesperson said that Reliance Entertainment premises were searched because of its past association with Phantom Films and they are not facing any scrutiny. I-T officials searched the premises of people connected with the company including Kashyap, Vikas Bahl and Madhu Mantena.

Phantom Films was co-producer of ‘Manmarziyaan’ which was directed by Kashyap and featured Pannu. Kashyap, along with Reliance Entertainment, had also produced another Pannu-starrer film ‘Saand Ki Aankh’.

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The Income Tax Department on Wednesday raided premises linked to actor Taapsee Pannu, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap and the promoters of his now-dissolved production house — Phantom Films. Officials said the searches were part of a tax evasion probe against Phantom Films. NCP leader Nawab Malik said the raids were an attempt to suppress the voices of those speaking against the Narendra Modi-led government.

The I-T department searches were carried out across 30 locations in Mumbai and Pune, also covered Reliance Entertainment group CEO Shibhasish Sarkar and some executives of celebrity and talent management company KWAN, officers said. The raids began in the morning and were continuing till late evening.

The action is part of a probe against Phantom Films, which was dissolved in 2018, and its then promoters Kashyap, director-producer Vikramaditya Motwane, producer Vikas Bahl and producer-distributor Madhu Mantena.

The I-T department sources said some inter-linked transactions between the entities raided are under the scanner of the department. The raids, they added, are aimed at gathering more evidence to further investigate the tax evasion allegations against them.

The business transactions of films made under the banner of Phantom Films, founded in 2011, are also being probed, the sources said. The searches against Mantena are being carried out in context of his links with KWAN, of which he is a co-promoter.

Founded in 2011, his production house Phantom Films  produced films such as “Lootera”, “Queen”, “Ugly”, “NH 10”, “Masaan” and “Udta Punjab”. Both Kashyap and Pannu, who worked together in the 2018 film Manmarziyaan and are now collaborating for film Dobaara, are known to be outspoken about their views on a range of issues.

Responding to a question at a press conference in Delhi, Union minister Prakash Javadekar rejected allegations that the raids against Kashyap and Pannu were linked to their comments, which are seen at times critical of the BJP.

“This is too much,” he said of the question. “Probe agencies undertake investigations based on credible information and the matter later goes to courts as well,” he added.

In Maharashtra, the debate intensified with state minister and NCP leader Nawab Malik describing the searches as an attempt to suppress the voices of those who speak against the Narendra Modi-led government.

“Central agencies like ED, CBI, and Income Tax are being used to target those who take an anti-government stand and speak against the policies of the regime,” the minister told reporters in Mumbai.

“The premises of Anurag Kashyap and Pannu have been raided. Both were raising their voices against the Modi government,” he said.

Pannu’s last tweet was on March 1, when she spoke on the Supreme Court asking a man accused of repeated rape whether he was willing to marry the 18-year-old victim. The actor, 33, put out a strong-worded post on the matter. Kashyap, who had visited JNU and Shaheen Bagh during the anti-CAA protests last year and is known to be equally outspoken, has been quiet on Twitter of late except for occasional retweeting.

The 48-year-old filmmaker, one of the most prominent new directors in Hindi cinema, is the man behind “Black Friday”, “Dev D” and the two-part crime saga “Gangs Of Wasseypur”.