New Delhi: In comments seen as defending income-tax raids on Bollywood actor Taapsee Pannu and filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Friday said the same persons were raided in 2013 too, but no issue was made out then as it is now.

Meanwhile, Olympic medallist shuttler Mathias Boe from Denmark, Pannu’s boyfriend, tweeted to sports minister Kiren Rijiju on the I-T raids, which drew a terse reaction from him. “Finding myself in a bit of turmoil. Representing India for the first time as a coach..meanwhile I-T department is raiding Taapsee’s houses,” he tweeted. TNN

At an interaction with journalists at Indian Womens’ Press Corps, Sitharaman said, “First of all, I am not commenting on any A or B individual. (But) since the names were taken, (I want to say) the very same names were raided in 2013. It “wasn’t an issue (in 2013). It is an issue now.” She added it is in national interest to know if some evasion is happening.

She did not talk about the outcome of the 2013 raids and if any follow-up action was taken in the last seven years. The I-T department on March 3 began raids on the homes and offices of Pannu and Kashyap as well as his partners, who launched the now-shuttered production house Phantom Films.

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

Meanwhile, Pannu’s boyfriend Mathias, currently coaching Indian players at the Swiss Open, tagged Union sports minister Kiren Rijiju and tweeted on Thursday, “Finding myself in a bit of turmoil. Representing India for the first time as a coach for some great athletes, meanwhile I-T department is raiding Taapsee’s houses back home, putting unnecessary stress on her family, especially her parents.. @KirenRijiju please do something.”

Rijiju replied to Mathias hours later. “Law of the land is supreme and we must abide by that. The subject matter is beyond yours and my domain. We must stick to our professional duties in the best interest of Indian Sports,” he wrote around 1 pm.