Odisha: Counting in of cash from Bolangir recoveries ends, total Rs 348 crore counted

Bhubaneswar: The counting of cash seized during central Income Tax I-T raids on the properties linked to Boudh Distillery Private Limited (BDPL), a liquor trader at Sudapada in Bolangir district, ended has and the total value of the seized amount was reported to be around Rs 305 crore.

With Bolangir counting showing Rs 305 crore, the total amount of cash along with recoveries from other country-liquor manufacturing units in Odisha reached Rs 348 crore on Monday.

For the counting of this seizure of cash said to be the ‘highest-ever’ in a single action conducted by any probe agency in the country, about 25 counting machines and 50 bank staff were engaged in the counting exercise.

Boudh Distillery Private Limited (BDPL) is a subsidiary of Baldeo Sahu Infra Private Limited which has alleged connections with Jharkhand’s Congress Rajya Sabha member Dhiraj Sahu

The raids were first conducted on December 6 and the I-T officials stumbled upon huge amounts of cash stashed in the Sudpada distillery unit in Bolangir district. The cash in 165 bags was taken to a nearby SBI branch for counting.

Later, huge amounts of cash were seized from the country liquor manufacturing unit at Dhanupali and the office of Baldeo Sahu and Group of Companies Ltd located in Sambalpur district. The seized cash was taken to the Sambalpur SBI branch in two vans.

While the counting at Titlagarh ended at Rs 11 crore, the value of notes seized from Baldeo Sahu & Sons was Rs 37.5 crore. The value of the total seized cash put together is believed to be around Rs 348 crore.

The I-T department is investigating to ascertain the source of such a huge amount and its owner. The two managers of Bolangir brewery are currently being interrogated by the I-T officials.

While an investigation is underway to find out the source and owner of the money, Income Tax DG, Sanjay Bahadur, who was in Odisha during the I-T raids, said that the details regarding the raids will be shared by the I-T media cell in Delhi.