Amid the ongoing controversy over the alleged ‘anti-GST’ Tamil film Mersal, the Goods and Services Intelligence Team has now raided actor Vishal’s office in Chennai. The raids come a day after the actor slammed Tamil Nadu BJP leader H Raja for supporting privacy while criticising the film Mersal.
#Visuals from office of actor Vishal being raided in Chennai. More details awaited. #TamilNadu pic.twitter.com/8nOEElCXyP
— ANI (@ANI) October 23, 2017
According to report by Outlook, the raids are being carried to check his past excise records since he is a film producer and distributor.
Tamil Nadu BJP leader H Raja had questioned the film for false criticism of central government’s initiatives after watching a few leaked scenes on internet. He also made communal statements and said that actor Vijay is doing this because he is a Christian. But Vishal reacted strongly against the leader for endorsing privacy.
Truth is bitter pic.twitter.com/woFdxOntRn
— H Raja (@HRajaBJP) October 22, 2017
This is what he wrote on his Facebook timeline:
![](https://wp.scoopwhoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/59edf1b67c998836e3af698d_69001959-9223-4d93-a68a-2302db567b53.jpg)
Vishal has been voicing support for the Vijay-starrer film Mersal which has come under fire for having scenes which allegedly criticise GST and Digital India. Many BJP leaders reportedly were offended with it and also accused actor Vijay of spreading false information with an intention to enter politics.
His Facebook post supporting Mersal:
![](https://wp.scoopwhoop.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/59edf1b67c998836e3af698d_874f72d5-47d9-412c-890f-fd04c7493e7e.jpg)
However, an unconfirmed tweet said that the reports of the raids were false.
Directorate General of GST intelligence, Chennai denies they have searched the premise of #Vishal and no such operation was conducted! pic.twitter.com/RCqEKTYXLH
— Sreedhar Pillai (@sri50) October 23, 2017
Mersal which was released on 18th October stars superstar Vijay in a triple role. The scene where Vijay’s character brings up India’s GST and heath care in the country reportedly angered BJP. In the scene, Vijay’s character asks why there’s a 12% GST for medicine which cures people which does not apply for something like alcohol which kills people. He also compares India’s GST to Singapore 7% and also talks about the free medical care in their country.
It also has a reference to the Gorakhpur tragedy where many children died because there were no oxygen cylinders available.
Even though BJP leaders demanded it to be banned, the scene went viral on social media.
Here is the scene:
Scene that North Korean President Kim Jong-Un wants to delete from the Movie “Mersal”. (2017) pic.twitter.com/suBoE1s0ea
— History of India (@RealHistoryPic) October 21, 2017
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