News of Income Tax (IT) officials searching the properties of actor Vijay, AGS Cinemas and film financier Anbu Cheliyan in Madurai has been the talk of the town since last evening. After questioning actor Vijay for nearly 5 hours in connection with an alleged tax evasion case, the IT officials have grilled Vijay for the second day as well.

IT officials claim that their probe revealed unaccounted transactions between Anbu Cheliyan and Vijay following which the actor's home on East Coast Road was raided. NDTV quotes an officer handling the matter to have said, "The AGS group and the financier were under our watch for quite some time with regards to their films." Reportedly, officials seized unaccounted cash worth Rs 24 crore and gold jewels from a location related to the production company and Rs. 65 crore from Anbu Chezian. 

The IT officials however denied reports that actor Vijay was escorted by them to Chennai from his shooting location yesterday, which had created a ruckus among fans. They have been quoted by NDTV as saying, "We were extremely courteous. It was Vijay who chose to wind up and return home where his wife was when searches were undertaken.  We know he is a big star and our senior officers had given specific instructions to treat him with utmost courtesy,"

Official Update