"Congress has to answer...": Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over IT raids at Dhiraj Sahu's company premises

Sambalpur (Odisha) [India], December 9 (ANI): Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday criticized the Congress party in response to income tax raids at the premises of its MP Dhiraj Sahu in Jharkhand, and Odisha, saying, that Congress needs to answer when one of its MPs has been raided.
"Congress has to answer when one of its MPs has been raided. They need to tell who this black money belongs to. This is a worrisome matter," he told ANI.
In what is likely India's biggest cash recovery in income tax raids, at least Rs 200 crore in hard cash has been recovered so far during raids in three states since yesterday.
The Odisha-based liquor distillery group is linked to Congress MP Dhiraj Sahu.
The counting of cash, however, is still going on, as per the IT official.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party's IT cell chief Amit Malviya on Saturday targeted Congress party and leader Rahul Gandhi over the recovery of Rs 200 crore in unaccounted cash in an Income Tax raid on Congress MP Dheeraj Sahu's premises.
Taking to X, BJP leader Amit Malviya said, "Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' journey was actually a journey to unite the thieves of India. Congress is the 'Corruption Ki Dukan'. The recovery of nearly Rs 300 crore from the locations of Dheeraj Sahu, a Rajya Sabha MP from Congress in Jharkhand, is living proof of this," he said in a post on X.
In another post, Malviya said, "Today is International Anti-Corruption Day and it is also the birthday of the owner of 'Corruption Ki Dukan'. This is just a coincidence!"
The raids were conducted at Boudh Distilleries Private Limited (BDPL) and entities linked to it in Odisha and Jharkhand.
Baldev Sahu Infra Pvt Ltd., which is a group company of Boudh Distilleries covered in the search, is linked to Dhiraj Sahu.
The raids were conducted at Bolangir and Sambalpur in Odisha and Ranchi and Lohardaga in Jharkhand, according to Income Tax officials.
On Saturday, BJP workers staged a protest against Congress MP Dhiraj Prasad Sahu over the recovery of unaccounted money worth Rs 200 crore from him during the Income Tax raids. (ANI)