Odisha turned haven for non-Odia criminals: BJP VP Jay Panda on big cash haul  

Amid the massive raids by the Income Tax department officials in Odisha, Bharatiya Janata Party’s National Vice President Baijayant Panda on Saturday expressed his astonishment over the recovery of a huge amount of cash by the sleuths.

Panda wondered whether amassing of such huge cash is possible without the involvement or knowledge of the leaders and officers of the Odisha government. 

“The seizure of black money amounting to hundreds of crores of a non-Odia Congress MP in Odisha is definitely a matter of concern. Seeing this, it seems Odisha has become a haven for non-Odia criminals. Is it possible for all this to happen without the involvement or knowledge of the leaders and officers in the governance system in Odisha?” Panda wrote in an Odia post on X, formerly Twitter.

ଓଡ଼ିଶାରେ ଶହ ଶହ କୋଟି କଳା ଟଙ୍କା ଜଣେ ଅଣଓଡ଼ିଆ କଂଗ୍ରେସ ସାଂସଦଙ୍କର ଧରା ପଡ଼ିବା ନିଶ୍ଚିତ ଭାବେ ଏକ ଚିନ୍ତାର ବିଷୟ । ଏସବୁ ଦେଖି ଲାଗୁଛି ସତେ ଯେମିତି ଓଡ଼ିଶା ଏବେ ଅଣଓଡ଼ିଆ ଅପରାଧୀଙ୍କ ପେଣ୍ଠସ୍ଥଳ ପାଲଟିଛି । ଓଡ଼ିଶାରେ ଶାସନ ବ୍ୟବସ୍ଥାରେ ଥିବା ଅଧିକାରୀ ଓ ନେତାଙ୍କ ବିନା ସଂପୃକ୍ତି ବା ଜଣାତରେ ଏସବୁ ହେବା ସମ୍ଭବ କି ? pic.twitter.com/9wIIb09733

— Baijayant Jay Panda (@PandaJay) December 9, 2023

Notably, the I-T sleuths conducted raids on the premises linked to Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand, Dhiraj Prasad Sahu and recovered unaccounted cash worth over Rs 300 crore from several parts of Odisha.

Also Read: BJP celebrates win in three States as Manmohan Samal, party VP Baijayant Panda hold rally in Kendrapara

The central agency has engaged over three dozen note-counting machines to count the seized amount. While cash amounting to Rs 200 crore, stashed in almirahs, was recovered earlier, the remaining amount was found from other locations, such as Sambalpur, Bolangir and Sundargarh in Odisha.