Left parties, in a joint media statement issued in Ranchi, questioned the delay on the part of the agencies in arresting Congress Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand, Dhiraj Prasad Sahu, who has been in the news recently for cash seizure of over Rs 350 crore during IT raids at his establishments.

The statement issued by CPI-M state general secretary Prakash Viplav, CPI-ML state secretary Manoj Bhakta, CPI state secretary Mahendra Pathak, Marxist Coordination Committee (MCC) state secretary Haldhar Mahato, Forward Bloc secretary Arun Mandal and Revolutionary Socialist Party (RSP) secretary Ganesh Dewan on Wednesday evening was the first reaction by any political party on the cash haul billed in news reports as the "highest ever" in a single action by any probe agency from the establishments and houses of Dhiraj Prasad Sahu, owner of a Odisha-based distillery company.

“It has been more than a week and we are yet to hear an official statement from the IT department on the raid and the cash seizure. Interestingly, if the person has committed an economic offence and the agency has proof, then he should have been behind bars by now. What is stopping the IT from arresting him,” questioned Prakash Viplav.

“It is part of a game plan as we have been seeing in recent years against non-BJP leaders to set a political narrative in the run-up to 2024 Lok Sabha polls and Assembly polls scheduled late next year in Jharkhand?” further questioned Viplav.

“The recovery of crores of rupees from the house of a Congress MP is a direct case of tax evasion. Therefore, this should be investigated and strict legal action should be taken against them. But the way BJP is creating hue and cry on this issue in Parliament and in Jharkhand, it is not going to get any political benefit from it as people know that BJP is the biggest player in economic and political corruption,” the statement read.

“Today BJP is the champion in the matter of taking billions of rupees from corporate houses in election funds through electoral bonds and providing them benefits worth lakhs and crores. Similarly, many leaders and MPs of BJP are also accused of corruption,” the statement further adds.

“A huge amount of illegal money (over Rs 13,000 crore) was recovered from a Gujarat-based businessman (in 2016), but the matter was hushed up when the name of a powerful minister of BJP at the Centre came up in the statement of the businessman. Therefore the BJP should look into its own affair first,” the statement alleged.

According to the statement, the Left parties have also filed a petition in the Supreme Court demanding rejection of the system of corporate houses giving funds to political parties through electoral bonds.

"Political corruption has increased rapidly in the era of liberalisation and the current economic policies nurture it... Therefore, the Left parties have a clear understanding that irrespective of the party involved in corruption, the culprit should be punished,” the statement stressed.

Sources in the IT department claimed that high-level gadgets including geo surveillance systems are being used to recover more valuable items (jewellery) that could be hidden below the ground of Dhiraj Prasad Sahu’s houses in Ranchi and Lohardaga.

More than 30 premises of the Congress MP in Odisha, Jharkhand and Bengal were searched by IT teams in the last few days.