More cash seized at Congress MP Dheeraj Sahu’s premises, IT raid continues

In a recent development, the Income Tax teams seized three additional bags from Dheeraj Sahu’s Ranchi premises, and before this they confiscated nearly nineteen bags of cash.

Written by Shivanshi Srivastava December 9, 2023

Ever after recovery of Rs 200 crore of unaccounted cash so far, tax raids continued on Saturday at the Odisha and Jharkhand homes of Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Dheeraj Sahu. The raids were started on Wednesday, December 6.

In a recent development, the Income Tax teams seized three additional bags from Dheeraj Sahu’s Ranchi premises, and before this they confiscated nearly nineteen bags of cash from the residence of Bunty Sahu, who was assigned to oversee the upkeep of liquor factories in the areas where raids were taking place in Odisha.

According to sources, the amount taken from Bunty Sahu’s home was anticipated to exceed Rs 20 crore, the money seized was being transferred to banks in Sudpara, Balangir, Odisha.

According to sources, the Bolangir district had over a hundred Income Tax Department officers stationed at various locations.

“Now we are working together to count all the money within two days. Fifty employees are involved in counting and more were invited to join us soon,” Bhagat Beherea, Regional Manager, State Bank of India, Bolangir, said.

“We have received 176 packets of money bags and we finished only 40 packets of counting. Now the rest of the packets are being counted. We have counted 40 crores of money so far. Some money was also counted over at Titlagarh. The adequate security system has been arranged in bank areas,” Beherea added.

Meanwhile, searches by the Income Tax department against the Odisha-based Boudh Distillery Private Limited and entities connected to it have turned up unaccounted cash worth about Rs 225 crore, according to news agency PTI.

The Income Tax department has implemented twelve counting machines. According to sources who spoke with PTI, the counting is going slowly because the machines have a limited capacity.

The distillery group’s premises in the Bolangir district of Odisha yielded cash stashed in almirahs worth Rs 200 crore, according to officials. The remaining cash was discovered in various locations, including Sambalpur and Sundargarh in Odisha, Bokaro and Ranchi in Jharkhand, and Kolkata.

According to PTI, this may be the biggest cash seizure made by the Income Tax department in Odisha to date, according to former IT commissioner Sarat Chandra Dash.

“I have never come across the recovery of such a huge amount of cash in the state,” Dash said.

Also Read: Anurag Thakur Takes Swipe at Congress: Income Tax Raids Uncover Crores At Party MP’s Premises