Income Tax raid at Congress office; Rs 8 lakh recovered

Days ahead of the first phase of Bihar elections, a team of Income Tax officials raided the Congress headquarters in Patna and served a notice after money was recovered from a vehicle parked outside the compound. Moreover, Rs 8.5 lakh was recovered from a person outside the office premises. He has been detained.

Confirming the IT raid, Congress Bihar in-charge Shaktisinh Gohil said no money was recovered from within the office compound. “They served notice after money was recovered from a vehicle outside the compound. No money recovered within the compound. We’ll cooperate. 22 kg gold, 2.5 kg silver was recovered from the BJP candidate from Raxaul. Why is IT not going there?” Gohil as said. Hitting out at the ruling BJP-JD(U) combine, RJD said, “Income tax department has started raiding Opposition parties. Do you understand the meaning?? This is called accepting defeat.” Earlier this week, the Income Tax Department had seized cash and bullion worth Rs 2.4 crore after it raided two government contractors in Bihar. The Central Board of Direct Taxation (CBDT) said the searches were conducted on two contractors who had premises in Purnea, Katihar, and Saharsa apart from a silk trader in Bhagalpur district on suspicion that “large scale unaccounted cash was being generated and used for various purposes.”