On Monday, the Income Tax department's raids on an Odisha-based distillery company entered its fifth day. According to official sources, this operation has resulted in the largest-ever seizure of cash by any probe agency in a single action. After five days of meticulous counting, a staggering amount of Rs 351 crore has been confiscated.
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Dhiraj Kumar Sahu is currently under scrutiny by the I-T department, with their properties being investigated. To expedite the counting of the confiscated currency notes, additional machines, staff, and security personnel have been deployed. As per reports, the tax authorities initiated searches against Boudh Distillery Private Limited, its promoters, and others on December 6, alleging tax evasion and undisclosed transactions. Both the company and the Congress MP have not yet responded to the inquiries made by PTI regarding the ongoing actions against them.
The cash seized in recent raids will be deposited at the main branch of the State Bank of India (SBI) in Balangir today, as confirmed by the SBI regional manager, Bhagat Behera. Despite this process, the bank will continue to operate normally for the public. In terms of the ongoing count, 140 out of the 176 bags have already been processed by the teams, with the remaining 36 bags scheduled for counting today.
"We received 176 bags and 140 of them have been counted, the rest will be counted today. Officials from 3 banks are involved in the counting process, and 50 of our officials are involved. About 40 (currency counting) machines were brought here, 25 are in use and 15 are kept as backup," he said, as quoted by news agency ANI.
The recovery of the ‘unaccounted cash’ at the Congress leader's property sparked a heated political battle in the state, with the Bharatiya Janata Party pressing the Congress for explanations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also commented on the development. Taking to X on Friday. BJP supporters staged a protest in Bhubaneswar against the uncovering of over Rs 350 crore of undisclosed cash during Income Tax raids at Congress leader Dhiraj Sahu's residence.
(With Input from the agencies)
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