Expensive antiques, paintings found in Mohanlal's house

As I-T officials continue their search in his home, offices

A collection of expensive antiques and paintings was found in the possession of film actor Mohanlal at his home at Thevara in searches conducted by Income Tax Investigation officials on Tuesday, sources said.

The officials also questioned Mr. Mohanlal over alleged discrepancies in his income tax returns.

Locked rooms

The antiques collection was found when two of the three rooms, which had been locked with biometric keys, were opened in the presence of the actor. The officials are summoning a specialist from outside Kerala for assessing the value of the antiques.

The actor has a reputation for collecting antiques, artefacts and art works. Informed sources said Mr. Mohanlal was very cooperative with the search team.

The investigators checked some financial documents and questioned him about the mismatch between his income tax statements and his real income. Apart from acting fees, he had received large sums from modelling assignments and also from his various business enterprises.

Senior officials were tight-lipped on the searches.

Unaccounted wealth

Tuesday's search was in continuation of Friday's raids on the homes and offices of Mr. Mohanlal and actor Mammootty. In simultaneous raids on nearly 20 premises of the two actors in Chennai, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Bangalore, the officials are said to have found clues to unaccounted wealth and concealed incomes. Both the actors had other business interests and allegedly held land and other assets in benami names. One close business associate each of the two actors had also been questioned and their offices and homes searched.

The sources said the preliminary search on the premises owned by Mr. Mammootty was completed on Friday; the actor was also questioned.

As Mr. Mohanlal had been away shooting a film in Tamil Nadu, he could only arrive in the city on Tuesday.

Since the long process of assessing, verifying and comparing the document would take time, the exact extent of tax evasion by the two actors would take time, officials indicated.

Officials sore

It is said that the brass of the I-T department were sore that the extensive media coverage of the searches, some of which had overblown the extent of the unaccounted wealth, had been counter-productive and felt that these would handicap them in the searches planned on certain other top stars in southern India.