Odisha I-T Raids: Seized Cash Noting To Do With Congress Or Any Party, Says MP Dhiraj Sahu

New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: After the Income Tax department made a record seizure of over Rs 351 crore from places linked to him in Odisha, Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand Dhiraj Sahu said the money has nothing to do with Congress or any other political party as is being claimed.

In his first media reaction after the marathon I-T raids, the Congress MP said all the cash seized does not belong to him, but to his family and other related companies.

Admitting that the money recovered was related to his liquor firms and the proceedings from the sale of liquor, Sahu told news agency ANI that he will give account for everything.

“What is happening today makes me sad. I can admit that the money that has been recovered belongs to my firm… The cash that has been recovered is related to my liquor firms, it is the proceedings from the sale of liquor… This money has nothing to do with Congress or any other political party as is being said…The money is not all mine, it belongs to my family and other related firms…I-T has raided now, I will give account for everything,” he was quoted by ANI as saying.

The total amount of cash seized during the I-T department’s searches at multiple properties in Odisha linked to Baldeo Sahu and Group of Companies Ltd, a distillery firm run by family members of Dhiraj Sahu exceeded Rs 351 crore.

The seized cash was taken in bags for counting to three SBI branches in western Odisha. The maximum 176 bags filled with cash were taken to SBI’s Balangir branch, where additional manpower had to be deployed for counting the notes.

The searches against the firm and its linked entities were launched last week on December 6, and around 30 places linked to Baldeo Sahu and Group of Companies Ltd have been raided since then.

Following the cash haul during I-T raids, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had posted a newspaper clipping with photos of a large amount of currency notes allegedly recovered during the raids.

Taking a dig at Congress leaders, Modi wrote: “The countrymen should look at the pile of these notes and then listen to the honest ‘speeches’ of their leaders… Whatever has been looted from the public, every penny will have to be returned, this is Modi’s guarantee.”