IT Raids On Liquor Firm In Odisha: Seized Rs 351 Cr Was Unaccounted Income, Admits Employee

Bhubaneswar: The Income Tax department has seized undisclosed cash amounting to more than Rs 351 crore during raids on the properties of an Odisha-based distillery group owned by a Congress MP’s family from Jharkhand.

The Ministry of Finance, in a release on Thursday, said the Income Tax (IT) department conducted a search and seizure operation on the group, engaged in the business of manufacture and sale of country liquor, grain-based alcohol, bottling of foreign liquor, running hospitals and educational institutions, on December 6.

The IT operation covered more than 30 premises spread across 10 districts in Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal. The business of the group is controlled by a family based in Ranchi, Jharkhand. One of the family members of the group is also a “politically exposed person” residing at Ranchi, the department said.

During the search operation, a large number of incriminating evidence including documents and digital data was seized. Preliminary analysis of the seized evidence revealed records of unaccounted sale of country liquor, details of undisclosed cash receipts and references for movement of unaccounted cash.

“The employees looking after the business activities of the group have admitted that the cash, seized during the search operation, represented the unaccounted income of the group and was generated through its multiple business concerns. This was also corroborated by one of the family members who is actively involved in the business. The facts unearthed during the search operation indicate that the group has been indulging in huge suppression of income earned from the liquor business,” the IT department stated. 

The search operation also led to seizure of undisclosed cash amounting to more than Rs 351 crore and unaccounted jewellery exceeding Rs 2.8 crore. A substantial part of the cash, to the tune of Rs 329 crore, was unearthed and seized from obscure and dilapidated buildings, hidden chambers and hidden safe-house camouflaged as unoccupied/nondescript residence located in small towns of Odisha including Sudapada and Titlagarh in Balangir district and Khetrajrajpur in Sambhalpur District.