Income Tax department’s ongoing raids on an Odisha-based distillery company entered the sixth day, resulting in a record-breaking haul of Rs 351 crore in cash, marking the highest-ever single-action recovery by any probe agency, according to official sources.
Images from the raid reveal floors inundated with cash and lockers stuffed with currency notes. The properties under scrutiny belong to Congress Rajya Sabha MP Dhiraj Kumar Sahu. Additional resources, including machines and personnel, were deployed to expedite the counting process, still in progress.
The Income Tax department initiated searches against Boudh Distillery Private Limited and its promoters on December 6, citing charges of tax evasion and off-the-books transactions. Both the company and the Congress MP have yet to respond to queries about the ongoing action.
SBI Regional Manager, Bhagat Behera, stated, “We received 176 bags, and 140 of them have been counted; the rest will be counted today. Officials from three banks are involved, with 50 of our officials engaged. About 40 currency counting machines were brought in, with 25 in use and 15 kept as backup.”
POLITICAL REACTIONS TO CASH SEIZURE The discovery of ‘unaccounted cash’ at the Congress leader’s premises sparked a political battle in the state, with the Bharatiya Janata Party demanding accountability from the Congress.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah remarked that crores of rupees had been recovered, yet the entire INDI alliance remains silent on this corruption.