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Indian tax police Wednesday raided Bollywood actor Sonu Sood's properties in the western city of Mumbai over alleged tax evasion charges.
Sources told UNB that the residence and five other premises of Sonu -- who helped thousands of migrant workers stranded by the Covid-19 lockdown in Mumbai return home last year -- were raided by tax sleuths.
The raids were in connection with a recent deal between the 47-year-old actor's firm and a real estate company based in the city of Lucknow in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, the sources said.
The raids come days after the actor met Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the national capital, fuelling rumours of his political debut with Aam Aadmi Party.
"Sonu Sood a Messiah who helped millions of poor who were orphaned by the govt. This Income Tax raid shows Modi Govt's insecurity," Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party tweeted, in the wake of the tax raids.
Though he started his acting career in regional language films on southern India in 1999, Sonu began starring in Hindi films in 2002. He earned accolades for his role in Mani Ratnam's Yuva in 2004 and in Aashiq Banaya Aapne a year later.
In 2010, the former model played the lead villain in Abhinav Kashyap's blockbuster Dabangg, co-starring with superstar Salman Khan. He also owns a production house.