Odisha I-T raid: More machines deployed to expedite counting of notes

The Income Tax department has deployed additional machines and manpower to expedite the counting of currency notes seized during its raids in three states on properties of an Odisha-based distillery group linked to the family of Congress lawmaker Dheeraj Sahu, people aware of the matter said on Saturday, even as political row escalated a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Opposition over corruption.

Currency notes worth ₹300 crore have been counted so far, with I-T officials expecting the total seizure to go past ₹350 crore.

The raids at premises linked to Boudh Distillery Private Limited, which is based in Boudh district of Odisha, began in the state, Jharkhand and West Bengal on Wednesday and continued on Saturday. The company is linked to Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand, Dheeraj Sahu, whose son Ritesh Sahu is the managing director, while elder brother Uday Shanker Prasad is the chairman of the company that manufactures extra neutral alcohol — a primary raw material for making alcoholic beverages.

On Saturday, I-T sleuths conducted searches at the residence of liquor trader Raj Kishore Jaiswal, alleged to be close to Sahu.

The raids have been initiated following “actionable intelligence” regarding significant “out of book” sales and cash remittances by liquor distributors, sellers, and business groups, the agency had said earlier.

“On Friday night, 20 bags of currency notes were seized from the Balangir house of liquor trader Bunty Sahu, associate of Ritesh Sahu, who is the MD of Boudh Distillery Pvt Ltd. That money is yet to be counted,” a senior I-T official said, requesting anonymity.

“We have deployed approximately 40 large and small machines for counting the currency notes so that the process could be expedited. We have asked SBI [State Bank of India] in Balangir and Sambalpur districts to enlist staff from other nationalised banks for joining the counting operation on Sunday,” the senior official added.

I-T officials said they were “bewildered” by the seizure from unlikeliest of places, including huts and rundown almirahs in liquor outlets. “For some time, we felt we were inside the strong room of some bank. Wherever we raided, there were currency notes of ₹500, ₹200 and ₹100 (denomination),” a member of the raiding I-T team said, also declining to be named.

According to the department, the cash seizure in Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal is the highest-ever made by any agency in the country against a single group and its connected entities. Of the ₹300 crore seized, I-T officials said, ₹250 crore was confiscated from several almirahs at the company’s premises in Balangir district, while the remainder was seized from locations in Titlagarh (also in Balangir), Sambalpur, and Ranchi.

“Though no one has been arrested so far, I-T officials are recording statements of company officials and individuals involved,” another official said.

The department has also called a 20-member team from Hyderabad to analyse documents and electronic data seized during the raids.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday held press conferences across various parts of the country, alleging that seizure of large amount of cash was indicative of the Congress’s corruption. It came a day after PM Modi shared a news report on the raids in a post on X, saying “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. This is Modi’s guarantee.”

Senior BJP leader and Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday expressed concern over the matter and asked if politicians from his home state Odisha were also involved in the corruption.

“The news of hundreds of crores of rupees being seized in the media for a few days in Odisha has left me stunned. It is a matter of concern that such a large amount of unaccounted money has been seized simultaneously from states like Odisha by raids by central agencies. What is the source of this anonymous wealth? What is the truth? Are some people of Odisha related to the seized black money? Why are some people who are flag bearers of truth and honesty silent on this matter,” Pradhan posted on X, formerly twitter.

Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), however, said its leaders were in no way connected to the liquor traders against whom the I-T department has taken action.

“The CM [Naveen Patnaik] has assured that the law will take its course. Whoever is at fault will not be spared and action will be taken against the wrongdoers,” BJD legislator Satyanarayan Pradhan said.

In Jharkhand, from where Sahu is a three-term Rajya Sabha member, state BJP chief Babulal Marandi has alleged the trail of the recovered money would reach the door of Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren.

“The two parties [Congress and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM)] have allied not only to form the government but also to come in defence of each other on the issue of corruption,” Marandi alleged.

The JMM, however, accused the BJP of trying to build a “false political narrative” to target opposition leaders. “The I-T department is yet to come out with an official statement and the Prime Minister, who holds a constitutional post, tweets a news report, which is latched on by the national spokesperson and state president to make wild allegations. This is being done merely to manufacture a false political narrative against the opposition parties,” JMM general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said.

The Congress, meanwhile, said the party was no way connected with Sahu’s businesses, leaving it to the three-term Rajya Sabha member from Jharkhand to explain the matter.

“The Indian National Congress is in no way connected with the businesses of Dheeraj Sahu, MP. Only he can explain, and should explain, how huge amounts of cash have been reportedly unearthed by the income-tax authorities from his properties,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posted on X.