Rs 200 crore recovered in I-T raids at premises linked to Congress MP; Modi says ‘every penny will be returned to public’

Highlighting the raids, Prime Minister Narendra Modi 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.”

IT personnel first raided BDPL on December 6 on allegations of tax evasion, and later searched the premises of Baldeo Sahu and Group of Companies, from where they claim to have recovered 156 bags of cash. Subsequently, simultaneous raids were conducted in Titlagarh, Sambalpur, Sundargarh and Bhubaneswar in Odisha and in a few places in Jharkhand, said official sources. Properties linked to some liquor traders were also searched in Rourkela and Rayagada.

The counting of the recovered notes up to Rs 50 crore was completed by Wednesday evening, but the process stopped due to malfunctioning of counting machines, sources said, adding that the seized cash was taken to the SBI branch in Balangir, where counting was taking place amid tight security.

“On the request of the IT department, counting of seized cash is going on at our Balangir and Sambalpur branches. The counting that started yesterday is still going on. It may also continue till Saturday despite being a holiday. Total 14 people from our bank are engaged in counting of notes,” Manmohan Swain, deputy general manager, SBI Sambalpur, told reporters.

Stating that he is not aware about the exact amount of the seized money, Swain said the bank will deposit the money in an appropriate account on suggestions of the I-T department once the counting process is completed.

Sources said this could be the largest cash seizure in Odisha’s history.

Income Tax sources also said that in Odisha, “some of the areas are in the Naxal territory, so those are sensitive zones”.

Congress MP Sahu and Jharkhand state Congress president Rajesh Thakur did not respond to calls and messages seeking a comment. Sahu’s Delhi office said he was not available for comment.

Jharkhand Congress spokesperson Rakesh Sinha said: “Dheeraj Prasad Sahu’s business is very old, and his wealth did not grow overnight… Almost all manufacturing and sale of country liquor in Odisha is owned by Dheeraj Sahu, where transactions are in cash. They are into hospitality, transport, fisheries, liquor and various other businesses. Also, as far as we know, the I-T department has not communicated anything to him.”

Sources said his businesses employ more than 1,000 people across several states.

Sahu has been elected to the Rajya Sabha thrice, and is also a Member, Consultative, Committee for Ministry of Power and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy. He joined politics in 1977.

Rajya Sabha MP and former Jharkhand BJP chief Deepak Prakash said: “This is the cash recovered from raids on one Congress MP; imagine how many have been hollowing our nation for the last 70 years.”