For the fourth consecutive day on Saturday, Income Tax (I-T) officials continued their crackdown on liquor manufacturers and traders in Odisha.
After recovering around Rs 200 crore recently, the officials recovered 20 more packets of cash from the house of one Bunty at his Sudhapada house in Balangir town. Bunty works as a manager of a country liquor manufacturer.
The I-T officials suspected that the cash found from Bunty's house would be around Rs 100 crore.
Initially, the I-T loaded the money in a pickup van filled with bags and boxes and later shifted it to the currency chest of the State Bank of India (SBI) in Balangir. How much money has been seized from the manager's house will be cleared after the counting of the cash.
However, the money counting for income tax and bank officials has also become a herculean task. Around 10 cash counting machines have been sought from nearby banks. The machines are even getting out of order while counting the money.
As per the SBI Regional Manager, around 50 employees from several banks are counting the cash with the help of 25 counting machines. "We are trying to finish the counting in the next two days. There are 176 bags of cash, out of which we have only counted cash from 40 bags."
The liquor manufacturer in question is a stakeholder of Baldeo Sahu & Group of Companies, one of the biggest country liquor manufacturers and selling companies in western Odisha.
I-T officials also raided the Boudh Distillery Private Limited (BDPL) which is a subsidiary of Baldeo Sahu Infra Private Limited.
According to sources, the group is allegedly linked to Dhiraj Sahu, a Rajya Sabha Congress member from Jharkhand, whose family members run the business.
The non-stop I-T raids have been going on in different places in Odisha since Wednesday. From Sambalpur to Rourkela and Balangir to Sundargarh, investigations and raids are going on in several western Odisha towns.
Raids have also been conducted on the house and office of country liquor distillery owner Rajkishore Prasad Jaiswal at Sargipali in Sundargarh district.
National politics has also heated up as the link of Jharkhand Congress MP and liquor baron Dhiraj Sahu has come to the fore in the alleged tax evasion case.
A 20-member Income Tax analysis team from Hyderabad arrived at Balangir on Saturday to assist in the ongoing investigation.
The SBI Balangir Regional Manager said, "There were 176 bags of cash, out of which we have only counted cash from 40 bags worth Rs 46 crore. If no more cash comes, we will hopefully finish the counting by Sunday night."
