The recent I-T department raids and subsequent recovery of Rs 350 crore cash from firms linked to Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand, Dhiraj Sahu has triggered a massive political slugfest in Odisha.
A day after the MP broke silence and clarified that that seized cash from liquor manufacturing units neither belongs to Congress nor any other political party, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday took a jibe at the former.
While talking to media, Pradhan said, “The world knows that Dhiraj Sahu is the ATM for the Gandhi family. Dhiraj Sahu is third time MP from the Congress and everybody says that he was the ATM for the Gandhi family. Nobody is able to digest his statements in defence after a week.”
Also Read: Odisha I-T raids: Seized cash does not belong to Congress or any other party, says MP Dhiraj Sahu
Pradhan further questioned that the money seized in Odisha belongs to whom. “Dhiraj Sahu was running and manipulating the Excise Policy on his own terms. It was his modus operandi to pressurize people by showing photographs with Gandhi family. Dhiraj Sahu one of the close confidants of the Congress family.”
Earlier, Sahu dismissed the claims made by media that the cash seized by I-T sleuths owned by him and said it belong to some of my relatives and not him.
“The matter is between them and the Income Tax department. My relatives will clarify on that later. But before all that, we should wait for a statement from I-T department. They will tell whether the seized cash is black money or white money. All the cash seized was from sales of liquor. ‘Baldeo Sahu and Sons’ and ‘Ritesh Sahu and sons’ firms are owned by my relatives. Apart from that, there are other relatives of mine who own such farms too,” Sahu said.
“As far as Boudh Distillery Private Limited (BDPL) is concerned, it is also owned by my relatives where liquor is manufactured. No cash has been found by the I-T department from BDPL,” Sahu added.
Meanwhile, Dhiraj Sahu or Congress leaders could not be contacted over the allegations levelled by the Union Minister.