When Alok Kumar Batabyal, deputy director (Intelligence) who headed the raids on the first day, left his house in Swaroop Nagar with a group of other officers, nobody paid the slightest attention. The morning of July 16 began quietly enough. On 16 July 1981, IT officials raided the house of a businessman, and Congress MLA and a former member of the Rajya Sabha, Sardar Inder Singh in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. The film is loosely based on what is purported to be the longest-running Income Tax raid in history. The principal photography of Raid took place in Lucknow and Raebareli, and commenced in September 2017. More than 40 theatre actors of Lucknow were selected to play various characters in the film. In August 2017, Raj Kumar Gupta made an official announcement about Ajay Devgn and Ileana D'Cruz being a part of his next film titled Raid.
A long battle ensues and a nearly defeated Amay is saved in the nick of time by a special police force sent in by the PM. On hearing this, Amay becomes furious but decides to control his anger.įinally, on the 4th day, at noon, Rameshwar sends his henchmen to kill Amay and his team. Frustrated, Rameshwar upon exhausting his political options, tries the tack of attacking Amay's wife Malini, who narrowly escapes. She refuses to help and sends Rameshwar away. The PM realizes that a written order pressurizing the IRS Officer to stop the raid may reach the media and the Government may be brought into disrepute. The PM calls Amay and asks him to look for other legal options Amay agrees to comply, as long as she furnishes a signed order through fax ordering Amay and his team to stop the raid, effectively negating the request. As the raid continues for a 3rd consecutive night, the PM and Rameshwar meet. He then rallies his political support and threatens to topple the state cabinet unless the Prime Minister agrees to meet him. A relentless Rameshwar meets several MPs, politicians, senior officers and even the Prime Minister, but to no avail.
The Central Finance Minister is persuaded to call Amay, but is promptly rebuffed. He then meets the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, who refuses any help as the Income Tax department is under the control of the Central Government and the raid is legal. MP Rameshwar, not willing to accept defeat, goads Amay into letting him leave the house. Amay and his team break down the walls, ceilings, staircases and old storerooms (with the help of the map) to find assets worth crores (tens of millions). After a few hours of searching, when all hope seems lost, he receives an anonymous letter, along with a map, revealing the location of the money in the house. He searches every nook and cranny of the house with his team to find the black money without any success. There he and his team face opposition from Rameshwar's very hostile family, but he holds up to his ideals and integrity. So, Amay and his team, after much planning, head to Sitagarh. One day, he receives an anonymous tip about black money hoarded by (Member of Parliament) Rameshwar Singh ( Saurabh Shukla), the don of Sitagarh, who had evaded income tax for a long time.
The film focuses on an lRS officer Amay Patnaik ( Ajay Devgn), who has just been transferred to Lucknow as Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax, where he lives happily with his wife Malini ( Ileana D'Cruz).