Taxmen arrived at the offices of Jaya TV in Chennai early this morning and are carrying out searches linked to allegations of tax evasion, sources have told NDTV."The search is following reports of tax evasion," a senior official said. Around a dozen officials entered the office around 6 am.Jaya TV, started by former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, is currently controlled by the family of her close aide VK Sasikala, the sidelined AIADMK chief who has been in jail since February for corruption. The private company is owned by Mavis Sitcom Limited, promoted by Sasikala's family.Sasikala's nephew Vivek Jayaraman heads the company which was for years the mouthpiece of the ruling AIADMK.Jaya TV has been critical of the state government in recent months, following a rift between Sasikala and Chief Minister E Palaniswamy, who dumped her in favour of patching up with a rebel faction led by O Panneerselvam.The united AIADMK had recently adopted a resolution to take steps to retrieve Jaya TV and Namadhu MGR, the party's newspaper which is also owned by Sasikala. The Jaya TV management had called the decision an assault on independent media.The Jaya TV network has a bouquet of channels including a news channel, general entertainment channel and a movie channel.The tax raids are taking place in the backdrop of a fight for the party's two-leaf poll symbol at the Election Commission, between the ruling faction and the group led by Sasikala and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran.The AIADMK has been wracked by infighting since Jayalalithaa died in December and Sasikala, her closest companion, took charge of the party. She was jailed by the Supreme Court for four years before she could take over as Chief Minister.

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