Taapsee Pannu’s boyfriend Mathias Boe tweeted to Union Minister Kiren Rijiju
New Delhi:
Actor Taapsee Pannu’s boyfriend Mathias Boe, who is a coach to some Indian athletes, has tweeted to Sports Minister Kiren Rijiju about “unnecessary stress back home” after government officials raided the actor’s properties for alleged tax evasion.
Mr Rijiju, in response, asked Mr Boe to “stick to professional duties”.
Irregularities worth crores of rupees have been found in raids on filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, Ms Pannu and others, the income tax department said on Thursday, countering allegations of a crackdown on some of the biggest critics of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration in Bollywood.
“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,” Mr Boe tweeted.
Finding myself in a bit of turmoil. Representing ???????? 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????????.
— Mathias Boe (@mathiasboe) March 4, 2021
Hours later, the Sports Minister tweeted, “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.”
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. https://t.co/nIIf5C8TXL
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) March 5, 2021
The Income Tax Department on Wednesday began searches at the homes and offices of Ms Pannu and Mr Kashyap and his partners who launched the now-defunct production house Phantom Films.
The searches, part of a tax evasion probe against Phantom Films and carried out across 28 locations in Mumbai and Pune, also covered Reliance Entertainment group CEO Shibhasish Sarkar and some executives of celebrity and talent management companies KWAN and Exceed.
Both Mr Kashyap and Ms Pannu are outspoken critics of the government and have lent their voice to various causes, including the ongoing farmer protests and last year’s protests against the controversial citizenship law.
A string of opposition leaders have criticised the raids since Wednesday. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi used three popular Hindi idioms on Thursday to hit out at the government and the hashtag “ModiRaidsProFarmers”.