Boudh: Income Tax (IT) officials Thursday resumed searches at the premises of Boudh Distillery Private Limited (BDPL) at Rambhikata under Harbhanga block of Boudh district six days after making the highest-ever haul of Rs350 crore unaccounted cash from multiple concerns of the firm owned by Jharkhand Congress MP Dheeraj Sahu’s family.
Although the I-T officials were tight-lipped about the recoveries made during Thursday searches, sources said it mainly pertained to additional documents on the transactions and sources of the proceeds which are currently being scrutinised with the help of cyber experts. A team of Excise officials from Bhubaneswar Monday visited the plant premises and conducted verification at the distillery which is in operation now. When contacted, Boudh Excise superintendent Krishna Nayak confirmed the development stating the Excise team from Bhubaneswar verified some documents in the plant and returned those before leaving. I-T officials had raided the firm on charge of tax evasion December 6, 7 and 8 which led to the seizure of an unprecedented amount of cash stashed in several cupboards. Cash counting machines from nearby banks were deployed for valuation which continued for several days, creating a sensation across the country and triggered a political slugfest with Prime Minister Narendra Modi promising action against the hoarders.
Meanwhile, the BJP stepped up its attack on BJD. BJP Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal said the ruling party must come clear about the ownership of the huge amount of cash. “It is impossible to hoard such a huge amount of cash without the support and assistance of the state government,” he said. The BJD strongly rejected Samal’s statement and accused him of making wild allegations. BJD vice president Prasanna Acharya said that nobody has the guts to bring corruption charges against Naveen Patnaik and he is known across the country for honesty and integrity. In a separate press conference, BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said, “It seems that the Odisha BJP president has more facts compared to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other Central ministers on the matter of I-T raid.” Mohanty said the PM December 8 and 12 had posted messages on X twice. “From PM’s posts, it was clear that seized cash belonged to a Congress Rajya Sabha MP and Congress was responsible for it. We request Manmohan Babu that if he has more facts than their central leadership, then let him place it before them,” Mohanty said. The BJD spokesperson also said that from a raid in UP `500 crore cash and gold were found with a businessman.