The Sambalpur and Bolangir branches of the State Bank of India (SBI) have reported counting over Rs 50 crore from the money seized in recent Income Tax raids, as shared by Sambalpur Deputy General Manager Manmohan Swain on Saturday.
Providing details about the ongoing counting process, Swain stated, “Approximately Rs 50 crore has been counted so far, and the process is still ongoing. Yesterday, nine note-counting machines and 11 staff members were involved. Today, we have brought in around 15 note-counting machines from various places, including Bhubaneswar. The number of staff engaged in note counting has been increased to 21 today.”
He added, “Counting is taking place at both the Bolangir and Sambalpur main branches. It is expected to conclude today or tomorrow. The counting at the Bolangir branch has already finished, and the total amount counted is Rs 11 crore.”
Swain clarified that there were no duplicate or Rs 2000 Indian currency notes in the counted money at the Titlagarh branch. The notes consisted only of Rs 500, Rs 200, and Rs 100 denominations.
Bhagat Behera, the Regional Manager of SBI’s Bolangir branch, shared that the counting process was ongoing despite it being a holiday, with 25 machines and 40 to 50 staff members engaged. He expected the counting to be completed in two days.
Background
At least ₹300 crore in cash was recovered by the Income Tax (I-T) department during raids in three states across locations linked to an Odisha-based distillery group, officials said on Friday.
The raids at premises linked to Boudh Distillery Private Limited, which is based in Odisha’s Boudh district, began in the state, Jharkhand and West Bengal on Wednesday and went on till Friday. The searches are likely to continue on Saturday and the amount of money seized is also likely to increase as counting is still underway, the officials said.
The company is linked to Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand, Dheeraj Sahu, the I-T officials said. While Dheeraj’s son Ritesh Sahu is the managing director, his elder brother Uday Shanker Prasad is the chairman of the company that manufactures extra neutral alcohol – a primary raw material for making alcoholic beverages.
“At least ₹300 crore in cash has been seized across the three states so far. A majority of them were recovered in Odisha. The amount is likely to increase as counting is still underway,” the official added.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) targeted Congress MP Dhiraj Sahu after his alleged link surfaced in connection with the seized money. BJP leaders burnt effigies of MP Sahu in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, and Jaipur, Rajasthan. Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad criticized the Congress, stating, “During I-T raids, Rs 300 crore in cash was seized from the business premises linked to Congress MP and his relatives.”
Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia also took a dig at the Congress, accusing them of looting money belonging to the poor and emphasizing the Prime Minister’s commitment to recovering every penny of the poor’s money.