India: Congress has ‘no links’ with $42mn recovered in raid, says MP Sahu

Speaking to media, 10 days after India’s biggest money heist which saw a record ₹ 350 crore ($42 million) getting seized from the premises of Congress MP Dhiraj Sahu, the political leader on Friday (Dec 15) said that his family has been running the business and the recovered cash does not directly belong to him. He added that the cash recovered in the raid does belong to the companies.

He further emphasised that the money is not in any way related to the Congress or any other political party of the country.

The Income Tax started conducting raids against a firm Boudh Distillery Pvt Ltd as well as associated entities, which are owned by the family of Sahu on December 6, which ended on Friday (Dec 15).

In the searches carried out by the Income Tax in Odisha and Jharkhand, they discovered cash worth ₹ 353.5 crore ($42 million) which marked the biggest single seizure ever made by India’s investigative agency.

The record recovery of cash and videos and photos of almirahs’ stashed cash were shared by the ruling Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) to accuse the Congress of corruption. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi also took a dig at the opposition, while using the reference to the TV series ‘Money Heist’.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Sahu said that he has been actively involved in politics for nearly 35 years and it is the first time he is facing such an allegation.

“I am hurt, and I can say with conviction that the money that has been recovered is my firm’s. We have been in the liquor business for over 100 years. I am involved in politics and did not pay much attention to the business. That was looked after by my family, and I would just ask how things were from time to time,” he said.

The Rajya Sabha MP, who hails from Jharkhand, said that he has a huge joint family and the business is run by him and his five brothers. He added that the children also look after different aspects of the companies.

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“The money that has been recovered is related to our firms involved in the liquor business. Our business is transparent. The money is from the sale of alcohol and it is in cash because sales in the liquor business happen in cash. The cash was from sales collections and had nothing to do with Congress or any other party. It is the money of my companies,” the Rajya Sabha MP said.

“Some of the firms belong to my relatives and no money has been recovered from the premises of Boudh Distillery Pvt Ltd, where some of the liquor is made. The money is not mine, it is my family’s as well as of related companies. My family members will give clarifications, if needed, to the Income Tax department. We will co-operate with the authorities,” Sahu added.

(With inputs from agencies)