New Delhi: The Income Tax department’s raids on Congress MP Dhiraj Sahu’s premises in Jharkhand and Odisha have so far led to the recovery of Rs 351 crore and approximately 3 kg of gold ornaments. The cash haul is the highest-ever in a single action by any probe agency in the country, according to officials.

Seized money is deposited into an account maintained by the Income Tax department

A significant portion of this cash was recovered from an Odisha-based Boudh Distillery Private Limited, linked to Sahu. The marathon raids against the distillery’s promoters and others were launched on December 6 on charges of tax evasion and “off-the-book” transactions.

Over 100 IT officials were present during the raids and more than 40 machines were deployed to count the seized cash.

It may be mentioned here that the tax officials, during the searches at business, official and residential premises, go through all the cash, financial documents, property papers, electronic devices, gold and other items.

The cash is seized and counted in the presence of two independent witnesses and is put under seal. It is then taken to a national bank.

The seized money is deposited into an account maintained by the Income Tax department. In this case, Rs 351 crore has been deposited in Odisha’s State Bank of India in the IT Department’s account, also called the Provision Deposit (PD) account.