Premises associated with Dhiraj Prasad Sahu, a Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand, underwent scrutiny by the income tax department in Ranchi and various other locations.
In a remarkable outcome following extensive efforts involving 50 bank officials, 40 counting machines, and five days of relentless counting, a staggering ₹353.5 crore in cash was seized from an Odisha-based distillery owned by the family of the Congress MP. This unprecedented confiscation stands as the largest single seizure ever conducted by any investigative agency in India, surpassing all previous records.
The income tax officials reported that the counting of cash in Odisha is nearly complete. The maximum recovery occurred in Balangir district, where approximately ₹305 crore was discovered. Sambalpur and Titlagarh followed with ₹37.5 crore and ₹11 crore, respectively.
The Income Tax department intends to deposit all the seized cash from the recent raids at the main branch of the State Bank of India (SBI) in Balangir. The SBI regional manager assured that the bank will continue normal operations for the public during this process.
Providing an update on the ongoing cash count, SBI regional manager Bhagat Behera stated that 140 out of the 176 bags have been processed, with the remaining 36 scheduled for counting today. He mentioned the involvement of officials from three banks in the counting process, with 50 SBI officials participating. Additionally, 40 currency counting machines were employed, of which 25 were in use, and 15 were kept as backups.
In the latest developments, the income tax department extended its raid on Boudh Distilleries Private Limited to include Baldev Sahu Infra Pvt Ltd, a company allegedly associated with Mr. Sahu’s family. The department suspects that the substantial cash unearthed during the raids on Boudh Distilleries and related entities represents unaccounted income generated from the sale of country liquor.
