MUMBAI: The income tax (IT) department raided actor Sonu Sood’s premises for alleged tax evasion especially linked to a land deal between Sood’s firm and a real estate company in Lucknow.

Sources in the department said that as of now IT officials only carried out surveys at half a dozen locations in the city connected to Sood and reportedly also at the offices of the Lucknow based firm, although they have not yet revealed the scope of the investigation and have not made any seizures during the day as the surveys were still on and expected to go into long hours.

Sources also added that the search at the actor's other locations might also be raided in order to ascertain the details of certain transactions that they have obtained. 

The actor who has grabbed national headlines for helping migrants reach their homes during the nationwide lockdown that was clamped last year in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic with thousands of them connecting with him with a plea for help had been recently announced as the brand ambassador for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government's 'Desh ka mentors' programme.

Although Sood did clarify after the announcement was made that he has not joined the AAP in any way. Sood had said there was nothing political about his lending hand for the Delhi government's scheme. Delhi chief minister and Arvind Kejriwal had also did not comment about Sood's entry into politics.

As the IT raids progressed, Kejriwal came out in support of Sood and tweeted that, several roadblocks come in the way of truth but ultimately truth triumphs. Sharing a video of the news breaking the raids, he further said that the actor has the prayers of all those families who got his support during tough times.