Jharkhand, India

India's Income Tax Department, during raids on properties linked to Congress' Jharkhand Rajya Sabha MP Dheeraj Sahu, recovered a whopping sum of approximately ₹290 crore or $34.7 million in cash, following which the raids have been intensified at other locations as well. The cash seizure figure may go further up as counting is still on.

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Boudh Distillery Private Limited in the Indian state of Odisha is the location from where the amount was discovered and the counting of notes is still underway, media reports said. As per reports the cash found was in such a huge quantity that some of the counting machines broke down.

The raids also extended to Sahu's business premises in Jharkhand and West Bengal, including areas in Naxal-affected regions, prompting cautious procedures. 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also reacted to the ongoing raids and spoke of the commitment to recovering every penny.

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“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 said in a post on X social media platform by sharing a newspaper article on the raids.

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The Jharkhand unit of the Congress has not been commenting much on the Income Tax raids and the large sums of money which was found by the authorities.

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Congress spokesperson Neeraj Sinha reportedly defended Dheeraj Sahu and his business activities claiming that the business has a long history and is not a matter of sudden wealth accumulation like Adani group, the Indian multinational conglomerate that has been often criticised around alleged favouritism. 

He also reportedly shared that the income tax department had not communicated any information to Sahu. 

Bundles of cash stack in almirahs,

The Income Tax Department reported that over 30 officers are involved in the ongoing cash counting process, with videos of note bundles stacked in almirahs going viral. Around eight machines are being used to count the substantial amount of cash.

Additional locations under scrutiny include Sambalpur and Sundargarh in Odisha, as well as Bokaro and Ranchi in Jharkhand.

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As the raids continues even after three days, the BJP seized the opportunity to target the Congress leadership, accusing them of amassing black money through corrupt practices.

Gaurav Bhatia, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), remarked, "The IT dept has seized more than ₹100 crore in cash from the residence of a Congress MP in Jharkhand. The Congress leaders are filling up their pockets with these black earnings made out of corruption."

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Union Minister Anurag Thakur added to the criticism, stating, "In the raids on Congress MP's premises, more than Rs 220 crores were found in nine almirahs and several rooms at their place and their associate's place...32 employees of banks were also less to count cash. This is the amount of money recovered from one corrupt MP of Congress. Congress is the birthplace of corruption..."

(With inputs from agencies)