The cash seizure in the income-tax department’s searches against an Odisha-based distillery company, owned by a Congress MP’s family, has been calculated at Rs 351 crore after five days of counting and is the “highest-ever” haul in a single action by any probe agency in the country, official sources said on Sunday.

The premises of the Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand, Dhiraj Prasad Sahu, in Ranchi and other places, were also covered during the searches by the department. The company and the member of Parliament did not respond to PTI’s queries regarding the action being carried out against them.

The marathon raids against Boudh Distillery Private Limited, its promoters and others entered the fifth day on Sunday. The raids were launched on December 6 by the taxman on charges of tax evasion and “off-the-book” transactions.

The sources told PTI that Rs 351 crore cash has been counted and the process has ended.

The counting involved nine teams of about 80 people from the tax department and various banks, working in shifts in a 24×7 cycle.

Another team of 200 officials, including security personnel, drivers and other staff, joined in after the taxman found 10 almirahs stuffed with cash apart from some other locations.

As many as 200 bags and trunks were used to transport the cash for depositing it in various bank branches in Odisha, the sources said.

The department believes that the entire cache of currency is “unaccounted” money earned from cash sales of country liquor by the business group, distributors and others.

It is the highest-ever cash seizure made by an agency in the country as part of an action against a single group and entities linked to it, the sources had said.

Some of the high-value seizures in the past include one from 2019 when the GST Intelligence raided a Kanpur-based businessman and seized cash amounting to Rs 257 crore and another instance where cash amounting to Rs 163 crore was unearthed by the I-T department during searches against a road construction firm in Tamil Nadu in July 2018.

The department is also recording the statements of the executives and other staff who were present at the searched locations and will soon issue summonses to the main promoters of the company for recording their statements.

It was not clear what amount of cash and other documents were seized from Mr Sahu’s house.

The maximum cache of currency, largely in Rs 500 denomination, was recovered from the premises of the company in Bolangir district, the sources said.

The BJP on Sunday stepped up its attack on the Congress and other opposition parties, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah saying it is now clear that their “propaganda” about probe agencies being misused was driven by the fear that their corruption will be exposed.

In a statement, the senior BJP leader questioned the “silence” of INDIA bloc leaders, saying he can understand why the Congress is keeping mum but wondered why parties like the TMC, DMK, JD(U) and the RJD were doing the same.

While the Congress has distanced itself from the MP, claiming that the party has nothing to do with his business, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah accused the Centre of targeting only the Congress and asked why no searches were carried out against BJP leaders.

Jharkhand Congress in-charge Avinash Pandey said, “Since he is Congress MP, he should make an official statement about how such a big amount of money came to him.” Union Tourism Minister and BJP leader G Kishan Reddy asked why Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was “silent” on the issue.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Friday assured the people that the money looted from the public will be returned and had posted a Hindi newspaper report where the cash recovered by the IT department was shown stacked.

Taking to X, he had 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.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Ongoing border talks between Bhutan and China to formally demarcate their boundary have not prevented Beijing from continuing unsanctioned construction activity in North Bhutan’s Jakarlung Valley.

Satellite images of this region, the sharpest to be released so far, suggest that Thimphu may have no option but to accept the fait accompli presented by the Chinese in this area which lies 50 kilometres from Bhutan’s Eastern border with Arunachal Pradesh. 

“This is a case of China making a claim to an area, based on earlier grazing practices by herders, that is very recent and without precedent – and then unilaterally seizing the territory and settling it with villages, military barracks and outposts,” according to Professor Robert Barnett, an expert on Tibetan history at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London.   

”Jakarlung adjoins the Beyul Khenpajong, which is an important cultural and religious area for the Bhutanese. So this case represents China making a very recent, doubtful claim about an area that is of great cultural significance to a far less powerful neighbour, knowing that neighbour has few if any options as to its response.”

The images in this report from Maxar show how China has scaled up its physical presence in the Jakarlung Valley over two years.  Images from December 7, last week, show ongoing construction of at least 129 buildings which appear to be residential quarters in one settlement and at least 62 buildings in a second enclave a short distance away.  Earlier images from August 2021 of the same area show that none of these buildings had been constructed.    

”The sheer scale of this developmental activity emphasises that these villages are not merely isolated outposts but rather integral components forming a comprehensive ecosystem that supports China’s territorial ambitions, further contributing to the Sinicization of the Bhutanese landscape,” says Damien Symon, who has written extensively about the Chinese intrusions in the East and West of Bhutan.  

The new images come at a time when Bhutan has stepped up ties with China, in an effort to end Chinese incursions into its territory once and for all.  In October this year, Foreign Minister Tandi Dorji travelled to Beijing, a first for Bhutan.  That same month, Prime Minister Lotay Tshering told The Hindu, ”We hope to see a line being drawn- this side Bhutan and that side China. We don’t have that right now.”  

Significantly, in his interview to The Hindu, Tshering did not reject the possibility of Beijing and Thimphu agreeing to a land swap – where territory in areas including Jakarlung, described in this report, could be exchanged if China were to give up its claim to the Doklam plateau which lies further to the south. In November, Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Nangyel Wangchuk visited India on an official visit.  While details of the ongoing border negotiations were not spelt out in the joint statement which was released, both sides ”held discussions on the entire gamut of bilateral cooperation and regional and global issues of mutual interest.”

In 2017, India and China were involved in a tense two-month-long standoff in Doklam when Indian troops physically prevented the extension of an illegal Chinese road in the area.  Mr. Tshering did, however, confirm that ”it will be to Bhutan’s interest to make sure both the parties [India and China] are happy with the decisions we make” in the border talks.

Irrespective of any outcome, ”India may be concerned by the precedent that Jakarlung sets for China’s willingness to abrogate treaty obligations when it comes to border disputes,” says Robert Barnett. ”China signed a formal agreement with Bhutan in 1998 not to alter the status quo in disputed areas.  In occupying and settling Jakarlung, it violated that agreement.”

India’s immediate concerns over Chinese expansion within Bhutanese territory also extend to the Amu Chu river valley which lies directly adjacent to the Doklam plateau.

Read | In Doklam Standoff, Bhutan PM’s China Comment Raises Concern In India

Following the Doklam standoff, China has constructed at least three villages along the valley.  Any further Chinese extension South would raise alarm bells in New Delhi since that would mean a Chinese presence close to the Siliguri Corridor, the narrow corridor that connects India’s Northeast with the rest of the country.  The Indian Army has, on several occasions, made it clear to the government that China is approaching a red line that it should never be allowed to cross. 

China’s use of what India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, General Bipin Rawat described as “salami-slicing” of territory has been a standard tactic for all of its territorial expansion plans – from converting shoals in the South China Seas to full-fledged military outposts to pushing across multiple points in Eastern Ladakh.   

”In May 2020 in Eastern Ladakh, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) advanced in five areas, but in that case, India strongly reacted after a few days,” explains Claude Arpi, the renowned Tibetologist. 

”In Bhutan’s case, the Royal Bhutan Army does not have the capacity to react and push the PLA or Border Defence Force back or even stop the construction of the new villages.”

Of greater concern to New Delhi, which in the past was a net guarantor of security for Bhutan, the ongoing talks could result in a profound geo-strategic realignment in the area.  ”Bhutan is slowly shifting towards the strategic orbit of China and there is not much that India can do, except if a new security agreement is signed between Delhi and Thimphu,” says Arpi.  

”It is a difficult situation for Delhi and for the King of Bhutan.”

Fifty bank officials, 40 counting machines, and five days of tireless counting have culminated in a staggering outcome: Rs 353.5 crore cash seizure from an Odisha-based distillery owned by a Congress MP’s family. This unprecedented haul marks the largest single seizure ever made by any investigative agency in India, shattering all the previous records.

Premises linked to Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand, Dhiraj Prasad Sahu, in Ranchi and other places, were covered during the searches by the income tax department. 

In Odisha, counting of the cash is almost complete, income tax officials said. Balangir district witnessed the most significant recovery, with approximately Rs 305 crore unearthed. Sambalpur and Titlagarh followed with Rs 37.5 crore and Rs 11 crore respectively.

The Income Tax department will be depositing all cash seized in recent raids at the main branch of State Bank of India (SBI) in Balangir today. The SBI regional manager has confirmed that the bank will continue to operate normally for the public during this process.

SBI regional manager, Bhagat Behera, offered an update on the ongoing count of cash seized in. He revealed that the teams have processed 140 out of the 176 bags, with the remaining 36 scheduled for counting today.

“We received 176 bags and 140 of them have been counted, the rest will be counted today. Officials from 3 banks are involved in the counting process, and 50 of our officials are involved. About 40 (currency counting) machines were brought here, 25 are in use and 15 are kept as backup,” he said, as quoted by news agency ANI. 

Yesterday, the income tax department continued its raid on Boudh Distilleries Private Limited, expanding its scope to include Baldev Sahu Infra Pvt Ltd, a company allegedly linked to Mr Sahu’s family. 

The department suspects that the massive cache of cash unearthed during raids on Boudh Distilleries and associated entities represents unaccounted income generated from the sale of country liquor.  

BJP Steps Up Attack

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launched a powerful counter-offensive on Sunday, aiming at the Congress and other opposition parties. Union Home Minister Amit Shah declared that their prior accusations of the government misusing investigative agencies are now exposed as mere “propaganda,” driven by their fear of being held accountable for their alleged corruption.

While the Congress has distanced itself from Mr Sahu, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah questioned why no searches were conducted against leaders of the BJP.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday assured the public that “looted money” would be returned. The PM shared a Hindi newspaper report showing the mountains of cash recovered by the income tax department.

देशवासी इन नोटों के ढेर को देखें और फिर इनके नेताओं के ईमानदारी के ‘भाषणों’ को सुनें… 😂😂😂

जनता से जो लूटा है, उसकी पाई-पाई लौटानी पड़ेगी, यह मोदी की गारंटी है।

❌❌❌💵 💵 💵❌❌❌ pic.twitter.com/O2pEA4QTOj

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 8, 2023

“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,” PM Modi posted on X.