Chennai: The Income Tax department on Wednesday launched searches at about 80 locations in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala in connection with a tax evasion case.

Officials said the raids are being conducted against a city-based chit fund company and its associates and at about 43 locations in Tamil Nadu, 29 in Kerala and six in Karnataka apart from few others.

They added that the department was acting on some "vital" inputs on black money being stashed and generated by the chit fund or ponzi route and hence the searches were launched early morning today.

It was not immediately clear if the latest action had any connection to some politicians or their associates in Tamil Nadu.

The department here had conducted multiple searches few days back and had raided the premises belonging to Tamil Nadu Health Minister C Vijayabaskar and others, days before the April 12 bypolls at RK Nagar Assembly constituency, which have now been postponed by the EC after reports of illegal money power being allegedly used to influence the polls.