Distillery group promoted by Cong MP’s family ‘hugely suppressed’ income, Rs 351 crore cash seized: CBDT

New Delhi, Dec 21 (PTI) Unaccounted cash of more than Rs 351 crore and jewellery worth Rs 2.80 crore were seized after the Income Tax department conducted searches against a distillery group based in Odisha recently, the CBDT said on Thursday.

The business of the group is controlled by a family based in Ranchi in Jharkhand and one of the family members is a “politically exposed person”, the Board said in a statement, without taking any name.

Official sources confirmed that the action was linked to the December 6 searches launched at more than 30 premises in Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal against the Boudh Distillery Group, promoted by the family of Congress Rajya Sabha MP Dhiraj Prasad Sahu.

“Preliminary analysis of seized evidence reveals records of unaccounted sales of country liquor, systematic details of undisclosed cash receipts and references for movement of unaccounted cash.

“The facts unearthed during the search operation indicate that the group has been indulging in huge suppression of income earned from the liquor business,” the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said.

This cash haul has been the highest-ever seizure of currency by an agency in a single operation.