The Income Tax Department conducted raids at the residences of Congress leader Dhiraj Sahu, a Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand. During these operations, authorities reportedly recovered Rs 200 crore in cash.
I-T raids at premises of Congress MP
The Income Tax Department conducted raids at the residences of Sahu for two days. During this, a significant amount of cash was recovered at Boudh Distillery Private Limited (BDPL) located in Odisha. The premises were equipped with multiple cash-counting machines for processing the recovered notes.
Simultaneously, the Income Tax Department conducted raids at numerous locations connected to Sahu in Ranchi, Lohardaga, and Odisha, along with ongoing operations in various places in West Bengal.
The investigation revealed the existence of several companies associated with relatives of Dhiraj Sahu in Odisha. Among these companies are Baldev Sahu Infra Private Limited, Kwality Bottlers Private Limited, and Kishore Prasad Bijay Prasad Beverages Private Limited. Kwality Bottlers Private Limited is responsible for bottling foreign liquor, marketed by Kishore Prasad Bijay Prasad Beverages Private Limited. Dhiraj Sahu serves as a director in some of these entities.
The Income Tax Department confiscated 157 bags containing alleged black money from Sahu, which were deposited in a bank that subsequently collapsed. These bags, filled with cash, were brought in due to a shortage of suitcases. Following this, both the suitcases and bags were loaded onto a truck and transported to the State Bank of India.
Who is Dhiraj Prasad Sahu?
Dhiraj Sahu, a Congress leader and businessman, represents Jharkhand as an elected Rajya Sabha MP. He has been elected for his third consecutive term as a Rajya Sabha MP. Hailing from Lohardaga in Jharkhand, Sahu's political journey began in 1977 when he first stepped into the realm as a student leader.
He hails from an industrialist family, with his brother Shiv Prasad Sahu also holding a past MP position. The Sahu family has long-standing ties with the Congress party since India's independence. He faced imprisonment during the 1978 Jail Bharo movement. Sahu was elected to the Rajya Sabha in June 2009, marking the span of his political career over several decades.
2018 Rajya Sabha Battle with BJP
Dhiraj came into prominence in 2020 following the Supreme Court's dismissal of a petition associated with his election. During the Rajya Sabha elections in 2018, BJP candidate Pradeep Sonthalia stood against Dhiraj Sahu.
Modi Reacts To the Rs 200 Crore Cash Seized in Dhiraj Sahu IT Raid
Narendra Modi, on his X handle (formerly Twitter), referred to a report on the alleged Rs 200 Crore cash seized by Income Tax linked to Congress's Dhiraj Sahu, said
"The countrymen should look at the pile of these notes and then listen to the honest 'speeches' of their leaders... Whatever has been looted from the public, every penny will have to be returned, this is Modi's guarantee.."
BJP Reacts to Recent IT Raids at Residence of Congress MP Dhiraj Sahu
BJP leader Gaurav Bhatia, while pointing to the incident, in the press conference said, "It would not be wrong to say that on one hand, there is Ghamandiya's guarantee of corruption and other hand, there is PM's guarantee to root out corruption. A news has prominently emerged about a Congress MP named Dhiraj Sahu. The IT raids on liquor manufacturing group Baldev Sahu in three states - Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal - went on for two days. The facts coming to light are worrying. Nearly 100 crore in nine almirahs has been recovered."
