On Monday, Chiranjeevi refuted reports linking him with the Income Tax raids at the premises of his son-in-law and some of his distant relatives, saying the media reports were aimed at 'maligning' his image.

The seizure of Rs. 35 crore cash by the Income Tax department during raids at the residence and the business premises of L.V.R. Sivaprasad, the father-in-law of Chiranjeevi’s elder daughter Sushmita in Chennai, has created ripples in Andhra Pradesh politics.

The Income Tax department on Monday said it had seized Rs. 35 crore in cash from raids on Friday and Saturday at the offices and residences of Chiranjeevi's son-in-law Vishnu Prasad and his father Siva Prasad.

In a news release, joint director Sanjay V. Deshmukh said that a group of persons with interests in granite, real estate, sugar and distillery businesses were subjected to raids on Friday.

Further investigation by the department resulted in the seizure of Rs. 35 crore in cash from the bedroom attached to an office. The cash was neatly packed in 35 cartons, each containing Rs. 1 crore in Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 denominations. The income tax sleuths also seized several documents with one of the persons who was raided admitting that the cash recovered was unaccounted-for money.