HT Digital,
Raipur, Dec 12: The Income Tax department has conducted raids on the premises of Congress MP Dhiraj Sahu in Jharkhand and Odisha, resulting in the recovery of Rs 351 crore and approximately 3kg of gold ornaments.
This cash haul is the largest in a single action by any probe agency in the country, as per officials. A significant part of this cash was found at Odisha-based Boudh Distillery Private Limited, which is associated with Sahu.
The distillery’s promoters and others were raided on December 6 on charges of tax evasion and off-the-book transactions. Over 100 IT officials participated in the raids, using more than 40 machines to count the seized cash.
During the searches, all cash, financial documents, property papers, electronic devices, gold and other items are inspected. The seized cash is counted with two independent witnesses present, sealed, and then transported to a national bank.
In this case, the seized Rs 351 crore has been deposited in the State Bank of India in Odisha in the IT Department’s Provision Deposit (PD) account. The Investigation Unit of the IT Department takes up the probe in such cases, goes through all details and accounts and prepares an assessment report in 60 days.
The accused and suspects are given opportunities to explain their income sources once the assessment order is ready. The process takes 18 months, during which the agency considers the evidence collected during the probe and the income proof provided by the suspects. It then determines the amount of seized cash that is illegal.
