Officials of the Income Tax (IT) Department are learnt to have conducted simultaneous raids on Chutneys group, a popular chain of restaurants, in Hyderabad on Tuesday. As part of the crackdown, searches were conducted at the residence of Atluri Padma, the CEO and owner of the group. The IT action instantly assumed political significance, given Padma’s relation to Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee chief Sharmila.

Full details are awaited on the number of offices and residences belonging to the Chutneys group where the raids were conducted. It is also not clear as of now if any documents were seized from Atluri Padma’s residence during the crackdown.

Atluri Padma owns the Chutneys chain of restaurants and doubles up as its CEO. The group runs under its brand name about 17 restaurants within Hyderabad and across Telangana. Chutneys has emerged to be one of the most recognised names in its 10 years of existence in the food industry.

The news of IT raids quickly sparked speculation on its possible links. Atluri Padma is the mother of Atluri Priya, who was recently married to Sharmila’s son Raja Reddy. Besides the newest relationship between them, Padma is also believed to enjoy personal friendship with Sharmila for quite some time.

Several prominent politicians and celebrities were in attendance at the reception in Hyderabad which followed a lavish wedding in Jodhpur of Rajasthan.