'Rs. 300cr and counting': Cash-counting at Congress MP-linked distillery expedited
What's the story
The Income Tax Department has reportedly deployed additional manpower and machines to expedite the counting of cash seized during its raids on properties of an Odisha-based distillery group. It is reportedly run by the Congress's Rajya Sabha MP Dheeraj Sahu's family. In the ongoing raids in Odisha, Jharkhand, and West Bengal, notes worth Rs. 300 crore have been counted so far. However, officials expect the total to cross the Rs. 350 crore mark in possibly the department's biggest-ever cash recovery.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Since Wednesday, the I-T Department has raided multiple locations linked to Boudh Distillery Private Limited (BDPL) across three states on suspicion of tax evasion. Notably, Sahu's family members allegedly run this major Odisha-based alcohol manufacturing business. While this son, Ritesh Sahu, is the managing director of BDPL, his elder brother, Uday Shanker Prasad, is the company's chairman. Based on "actionable intelligence," the I-T Department launched the raids over "out of book" sales and cash remittances, per Hindustan Times.
Details
Details on I-T Department's note-counting process
Until Saturday, more than 30 bank officers and officials were involved in the counting process of the seized cash. Reportedly, staffers of the State Bank of India and other nationalized banks have also been requested to join. Around 40 large and small note-counting machines were deployed to accelerate the counting. Earlier, PTI reported that note-counting was going on at a slow pace due to the limited capacity of these machines. Reportedly, most recovered notes were of the Rs. 500 denomination.
What Next?
Know about cash seizures so far by tax department
Meanwhile, officials earlier said cash worth over Rs. 200 crore was recovered from the distillery group's premises in the Bolangir district of Odisha alone. Furthermore, the remaining amount was found at locations like the state's Sambalpur and Sundargarh, West Bengal's Kolkata, and Jharkhand's Bokaro and Ranchi. Moreover, this is also being considered the tax department's biggest cash recovery so far.
Insights
What Modi said on I-T raids at Odisha-based distillery
The ongoing raids have also triggered the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to launch an aggressive against the Congress. On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared a news report on X (formerly Twitter) regarding the I-T Department's raids. "Countrymen should look at these piles of currency notes and then hear the speeches of its (Congress) leaders on honesty. Every penny looted from people will have to be returned," he tweeted.
Facts
Congress distances itself from issue, says Sahu should explain
Amid the BJP's sharp attacks on the party over the issue concerning Sahu, the Congress has clarified that the grand old party has no links to the MP's businesses. As per Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh, only Sahu himself can and should explain how the I-T Department authorities have unearthed such a huge amount of money from properties linked to him.