Cash seizure from Dhiraj Sahu's premises reminds of Kanpur's Piyush Jain case

Lucknow, Dec 11 (IANS) The huge cash seizure from the premises of Congress Rajya Sabha MP Dhiraj Sahu is not a one-of-its-kind case.

In December 2021, Central agencies recovered nearly Rs 257 crore in cash and documents of several properties from the house of a Kanpur perfumer and businessman Piyush Jain.

In the over 120-hour raid at Jain's Kanpur house, teams of the Income Tax Department, Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), and Goods and Services Tax intelligence (GST) units, recovered cash to the tune of over Rs 257 crore in addition to several kilograms of gold and silver. Cash tumbled out of sofas, walls, ceilings and even the staircase.

The teams found 18 lockers in a cellar at Jain’s ancestral house in Kannauj. They also found a bunch of around 500 keys which was used to open these lockers.

Jain ran perfume-manufacturing units in Kannauj and Kanpur. The money was allegedly linked to the dispatch of goods via fake invoices and without e-way bills by a goods transporter.

According to sources, Jain used to change his watchmen every 1-1.5 years.

At his bungalow in Anandpuri, Jain had employed only two watchmen at a salary of Rs 7,500 per month and even they were not allowed to go inside the house.

Despite sitting on a pile of wealth, Jain used to lead a minimalist lifestyle to evade the eyes of the public and tax sleuths.

Jain would also avoid swanky cars and used to drive in old vehicles to evade attention. He had a Toyota car, registered in the name of his 15-year-old son Pratyush, and a Volkswagen.

He used to conduct his business at Kanpur’s Ittarwali Gali, known for perfume trade. He has offices in Kannauj, Kanpur and Mumbai.

During the Kanpur raid, the Income Tax Department also found around 40 companies through which Jain would conduct his business.

Unaccounted sandalwood oil, perfumes worth crores were also seized from Jain’s factory.

Pictures of a raid at his premises showed officials counting heaps of currency notes with note counting machines. He was subsequently arrested on charges of tax evasion and later released on bail.