The Income Tax Department, which had carried out simultaneous searches in Odisha, Jharkhand, and West Bengal in the first week of December, said ‘unaccounted’ cash amounting to more than ₹351 crore was discovered during raid.
The IT department for the first issued an official statement which said, “The search operation has resulted in the seizure of undisclosed cash amounting to more than ₹351 crore and unaccounted jewellery exceeding ₹2.80 crore. It is said to be the biggest cash haul in any single operation of the IT department’s history.
“A substantial part of the cash, to the tune of ₹329 crore, was unearthed and seized from obscure and dilapidated buildings, hidden chambers and hidden safe-house camouflaged as an unoccupied or nondescript residence located in small towns of Odisha including Sudapada and Titlagarh in Balangir district and Khetrajrajpur in Sambalpur district,” it said.
Preliminary analysis
“During the search operation, a large number of incriminating evidence in the form of documents and digital data has been found and seized. Preliminary analysis of seized evidence reveals records of unaccounted sales of country liquor, systematic details of undisclosed cash receipts and references for movement of unaccounted cash,” the department found.
“The main employees looking after the business activities of the group, have admitted that the cash found and seized during the search operation represents the unaccounted income of the group, generated through its multiple business concerns. This was also corroborated by one of the family members who is actively involved in the business,” the release noted.
Though the IT department did not take the name of proprietor of the liquor business, the premise belonged to a family business helmed by the late Rai Sahab Baldeo Sahu, a liquor baron in the Chhotanagpur area. Dheeraj Kumar Sahu, Congress Rajya Sabha member and one of the sons of Baldeo Sahu was also involved in the family business.
“The business of the group is controlled by a family based in Ranchi, Jharkhand. One of the family members of the group is also a politically exposed person residing at Ranchi,” the department said.
According to the release, the family business is spread across manufacturing and sale of country liquor, grain-based alcohol, bottling of foreign liquor, and running hospitals, and educational institutions. On December 6, the search operation covered more than 30 premises in 10 districts of Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
The IT department further said the facts unearthed during the search operation indicated that the group was indulging in huge suppression of income earned from the liquor business. Further investigations are in progress, it said.
