Indus Valley Times

By Sukant Kumar Mohanty

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 9: The huge seizure of over Rs 200 crore unaccounted cash by the Income Tax (I-T) department on liquor manufacturers in Odisha has heated up the political climate in the state with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) trading charges on the issue.

On Friday, BJP spokesperson Manoj Mohapatra alleged that Odisha transport minister Tukuni Sahu, who represents Bolangir district’s Titlagarh assembly constituency in the State Assembly, had links with one of the liquor manufacturers in Bolangir who is now under the Income Tax department scanner for alleged tax evasion.

To prove the allegations, Mohapatra showed a photograph of the BJD minister with the liquor manufacturer Dipak Sahu.

“The BJD must clarify the money belongs to whom. How can a liquor trader stock so much cash? What were the intelligence, excise and vigilance departments doing? Was the money stocked to be used in the 2024 elections? The state government must come clean on the issue by ordering a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the hoarding of such a huge volume of money from liquor traders,” Mohapatra said.

As per reports, the picture in question is said to be from the Ravan Podi Mahotsav at Titilagarh where the liquor manufacturer Dipak Sahu, minister Tukuni Sahu and a number of government officials shared the dais.

Denying the allegations, BJD MLA, Satyanarayan Pradhan said, “The allegations are baseless. No leader from our party is involved in this. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik would never allow such kind of behavior. As far as the Opposition allegations are concerned, it is their duty to oppose us. So let them do their duty.”

“I do not know anything about the photos that the BJP is showing. Some leaders might have met some businessmen during a social gathering. That does not prove anything,” Pradhan added.

The liquor manufacturer in question is a stakeholder of Baldeo Sahu & Group of Companies, one of the biggest country liquor manufacturers and selling companies in western Odisha. The Income Tax has raided the offices and residences of all the persons linked to this group.

The I-T sleuths have been raiding various establishments of Boudh Distillery Private Limited (BDPL), a subsidiary of Baldeo Sahu Infra Private Limited, at various locations in Odisha since Wednesday.