HYDERABAD: Sleuths of the
income tax department on Thursday carried out searches on ten locations of Divis Laboratories Limited, the country’s fifth largest listed pharmaceutical company in terms of market capitalisation. The officials swooped down in ten locations in the two Telugu states, including Gachibowli and Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad, Choutuppal in Nalgonda district and Visakhapatnam, in their day-long search operation.
Sources said that searches were also conducted on the residences Divis promoters, including Nilima Motaparti, who was listed on Barclays Hurun India Rich List 2018. Motaparti’s assets were pegged at Rs 6,530 crore, securing her the15th position on the list. The company has an annual turnover of over Rs 4,000 crore.
Sources said that only Motaparti was available to investigators during the searches while promoters Divi Murali Krishna Prasad and Divi S Kiran are said to be in
Switzerland
. I-T sleuths also searched the comapny’s production units in Visakhapatnam, Choutuppal, a corporate office in Gachibowli, a research lab in Sanathnagar and residences of directors in Jubilee hills.
There were no seizures made in terms of cash or articles but sources said the officials are looking into the books of the company to check raw material purchases and labour payments to identify any violations.
Divis Laboratories Limited, for the quarter ending December 2018, had reported a net profit Rs 380 crore with a 69 percent increase in net profit as compared to the same period last year . The total revenue of the company were also reported to be at Rs 1,377 crore with a growth of 30 per cent.
The company was recently given best partner award for its contribution to ‘Smart Village’ programme, the brainchild of AP chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu and the company’s director Madhusudhan Rao. The company is trying to set up a plant in Thondangi mandal of East Godavari district which has led to protests against pollution by locals.
The management of Divis Labs told reporters on Thursday that their company is stocklisted and is complying with tax regulations. Divis Lab chief financial officer Kishore Kumar Lingamaneni was not available for comment despite various attempts. Nilima Motaparti’s father-in-law Motaparti Siva Rama Prasad was a former director at Heritage company, owned by Chandrababu Naidu’s family. Prasad quit heritage after his name figured in the database of Panama papers. He had then told media that all his businesses were legitimate.
Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.Sudhakar Reddy Udumula is the Editor (Investigation) at the Times...
Read MoreSudhakar Reddy Udumula is the Editor (Investigation) at the Times of India, Hyderabad. Following the trail of migration and drought across the rustic landscape of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Sudhakar reported extensively on government apathy, divisive politics, systemic gender discrimination, agrarian crisis and the will to survive great odds. His curiosity for peeking behind the curtain triumphed over the criminal agenda of many scamsters in the highest political and corporate circles, making way for breaking stories such as Panama Papers Scam, Telgi Stamp Paper Scam, and many others. His versatility in reporting extended to red corridors of left-wing extremism where the lives of security forces and the locals in Maoist-affected areas were key points of investigation. His knack for detail provided crucial evidence of involvement from overseas in terrorist bombings in Hyderabad.
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