Cuttack: Amid a legal battle with his estranged wife Varsha Priyadarshini, actor-turned-politician from Odisha Anubhav Mohanty has moved Enforcement Directorate (ED), seeking a probe into her alleged multiple identities.
“Varsha Priyadarshini Sahoo alias Barsha Priyadahshanee Sahu or Barsha Priyadarshini Sahoo and with many more names is an actress and social worker from Odisha having different sources of income but has been either not paying taxes or has been paying minimal tax by manipulating figures or evading taxes,” he wrote in his letter dated June 7, to the ED Joint Director, Bhubaneswar zonal office.
Anubhav alleged that her name, middle name and surname have been spelt differently in her Passport, Aadhar card and PAN card. The same variation in the spellings was also found in her different bank account, he said, alleging that it was probably done to avoid and evade income tax. “Surprisingly, one account of the same bank has seen changes in the spelling of the name for not less than 5-6 times,” he noted.
Raising questions on whether she had ever filed income tax returns, Anubhav said that the actress admitted in her affidavit in a legal matter, which is subjudice, that she incurred a loss of about 13 crore in her 6 years of marriage with an average earning of Rs 20 lakh per movie. “This clearly means that she had been earning something equal to that before marriage and
also and must have paid income tax on an average earning of more than Rs 2 core every year doing 10 movies per year even before her marriage that is year 2014!”
“If so, can she provide proof of having paid the income tax on all her earnings during all the preceding years of her marriage while pursuing her acting career?” the Kendrapada MP questioned.
Anubhav also mentioned Varsha’s NGO in the letter and said that it is not known if it has even been registered. “The source of income/funding of the NGO is not known. Whether the accounts are audited or not is not known. In all probability, she is diverting all her black money earned through other or unknown sources into the NGO in order to convert them into white,” he further alleged.
Referring to his wedding, Anubhav said that Varsha’s mother Deepa Sahoo had claimed to have spent around Rs.50 lakh and presented a silver coin to each of the 2000 guests (Baratis) who attended it. “Can she provide proof of that withdrawal or borrowings of the money that she spent on her daughter’s wedding? This matter should be thoroughly probed to bring out the facts,” he added.
While Anubhav is seeking a divorce from Varsha, the latter has filed a case of domestic violence at the Cuttack Sub-divisional Judicial Magistrate (SJDM) court on August 7, 2020, accusing the actor of torturing her physically and mentally.
Varsha could not be contacted for her comments on the issue despite repeated attempts.
