Odisha I-T raids enter 4th day

Bhubaneswar: Income Tax (I-T) department officials continued their crackdown on liquor manufacturers and traders in Odisha, for the fourth consecutive day on Saturday.

After seizing more than '200 crore in the ongoing searches, the I-T department recovered 20 more packets of cash from the house of one ‘Bunty’ at his Sudhapada house in Balangir town.

Bunty works as a manager of a country-liquor manufacturer.

The I-T department officials suspect that the cash found at Bunty's house would be around '100 crore. However, there is no confirmation from the I-T department about the exact amount of money recovered.

Initially, the income tax team loaded the money in a pickup van filled with bags and boxes and later shifted it to the currency chest of the State Bank of India (SBI) in Balangir.

The exact amount of money will be cleared after the counting of the cash.

However counting money for the I-T officials has also become a herculean task.

Several bank employees have been deployed in two shifts to help the I-T officials to count the money. Around 10 cash counting machines have been sought from nearby banks.

With the gigantic sums of money seized, It was reported that the counting machines were malfunctions after several rounds of counting.

 

As per the SBI’s regional manager, around 50 employees from several banks are counting the cash with the help of 25 counting machines.

"We are trying to finish the counting in the next two days. Saturday and Sunday are holidays, so we will have more counting machines here with us. There were 176 bags of cash, out of which we have only counted cash from 40 bags."

The liquor manufacturer in question is a stakeholder of Baldeo Sahu & Group of Companies, one of the biggest country liquor manufacturers and sellers in Odisha.

The Income Tax has raided the offices and residences of all the persons linked to this group.

The I-T sleuths also raided Boudh Distillery Private Limited (BDPL) which is a subsidiary of Baldeo Sahu Infra Private Limited.

According to sources, the group is allegedly linked to Congress’ Rajya Sabha member from Jharkhand Dhiraj Sahu, whose family runs the business.

The non-stop I-T raids have been going on in different places in Odisha since Wednesday. The raids have criss-crossed Sambalpur, Rourkela, Balangir and Sundargarh in western Odisha.

Apart from Balangir, counting of money from several bags is underway at the Dhanupali country liquor distillery and the Badabazar area in Sambalpur.

Similarly, raids have been conducted on the house and office of country liquor distillery owner, Rajkishore Prasad Jaiswal, a liquor trader at Sargipali in Sundargarh district.

National politics has heated up over the reported link of Jharkhand Congress MP and liquor baron Dhiraj Sahu in the related alleged tax evasion case.

A 20-member Income Tax analysis team from Hyderabad arrived at Balangir on Saturday to assist in the ongoing investigation regarding the seizure of huge cash.

The team is likely to examine electronic gadgets, including computers of the liquor traders' firm and others.

As per Balangir SBI regional manager, around 50 employees from several branches of the SBI are engaged in the counting of the cash with the help of 25 counting machines.

"We are trying to finish the counting in the next two days. As there is a holiday on Saturday and Sunday, we will have more counting machines available with us. There were 176 bags of cash, out of which we have only counted cash from 40 bags worth '46 crore. If no more cash comes, we will hopefully finish the counting by Sunday night," he said.