Income tax sleuths on Saturday carried out raids at Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren’s personal secretary Sunil Shrivastava’s residences and several other locations a few days before the state Assembly polls.
Sources claimed that raids were carried out at seven locations in Ranchi and nine sites in Jamshedpur, including Shrivastava’s residences and his relatives’ houses.
The tax raids were conducted in connection with the probe into alleged illegal liquor trade and mining in the state. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are also probing the alleged scam.
Jharkhand Congress slammed the raids and accused the BJP of trying to pressure Opposition leaders through the raids. Congress spokesperson Rakesh Sinha said: “This is nothing new for Jharkhand. Income tax raids are often carried out on the premises of Opposition leaders and their staffers in the state. The BJP is trying to establish its footing through IT and ED raids ahead of the elections. With such actions, they are just attempting to create pressure on Opposition leaders. But such steps will not hinder people who have already made up their minds to defeat the BJP.”
BJP spokesperson Pratul Shahdeo ruled out raids having links with Assembly polls. “It is not fair to question the IT raids.... They (the ruling parties) should wait till the official version of the IT department comes out. It is a normal process,” Shahdeo said.
