Odisha IT raids: Rs 305 crore seized as cash counting ends in Balangir

Bhubaneswar: The counting of cash seized during raids by the Income Tax (IT) Department on properties associated with a liquor trader at Sudapada in Odisha’s Balangir district ended last evening while the amount was reportedly around Rs 305 crore.

Around 25 cash counting machines and 50 bank employees were roped in for the counting process.

As many as 176 bags of cash were taken to SBI’s Balangir branch for counting. The process was underway for the last five days.

The IT Department was investigating to ascertain the source of the money.

Notably, the Income Tax officials launched simultaneous raids at different places related to Boudh Distillery Private Limited, an Odisha-based distillery firm, and other liquor businessmen linked to the company in Balangir, Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Bhubaneswar in Odisha, Kolkata in West Bengal and Bokaro in Jharkhand on December 6.

The sleuths stumbled upon huge cash stashed in two almirahs at the Sudapada distillery unit in Balangir district.

The officials also recovered more cash during searches at the house of Bunty Sahu, manager of the distillery unit.