Income Tax raids: Congress seeks clarification from party MP Dhiraj Sahu

Congress seeks clarification from RS MP Dheeraj Sahu after ₹350 crore in cash from entities linked to his companies is recovered in I-T raids. Congress says it's a personal matter and will not comment until official statement from I-T and related agencies. BJP stages protest, demands Sahu's arrest. Congress MLA Alamgir says law is doing its job and Congress will not intervene.

The Congress has sought a clarification from its Rajya Sabha member Dhiraj Sahu after ₹350 crore in cash from entities linked to his companies have been recovered during the raids by the Income Tax (I-T) department in Odisha.

“It is a collective business of his joint family. That family has been in business for over 100 years. Only he can give information about from where he got such a huge amount of money but since he is associated with the Congress and is a Rajya Sabha member of our party, the Congress has sought a clarification from him,” Congress’s Jharkhand in-charge and All India Congress Committee (AICC) member Avinash Pandey told the media in Ranchi. 

He said, “This incident has nothing to do with the Congress. The party has already made it clear that this is a personal matter of Dheeraj Sahu. At the same time it would not be right to comment on anything until the official statement comes from the Income Tax and related agencies.”

This is not the first time Mr. Sahu has landed in trouble. After being elected as Rajya Sabha member for the third time in May 2018, he came into limelight in December 2019 when about ₹30 lakh in cash was found in his bag at the Ranchi airport while going to Delhi.

After the huge amount was detected during the scanning of the bag, the Central Industrial Security Force team informed the I-T department. It was time for the take-off of the flight. So, the I-T department had questioned him in Delhi. At the Delhi airport, Mr. Sahu presented the documents related to the cash and he was allowed to go free. 

The Sahu family came into limelight for the second time during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when Mr. Dheeraj Sahu’s brother Gopal Sahu contested against BJP candidate Jayant Sinha in Hazaribagh.

Mr. Gopal Sahu had opened the camp office at Hazaribagh’s Hotel A.K and there was a raid during that time also and around ₹22 lakh was recovered from his office.