8 crores in cash, 3 kg gold seized during raid on businessman in Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal: The Income Tax Department has netted ₹8 crores, 3 kg of gold and numerous property documents in a raid on prominent Madhya Pradesh businessman Shankar Rai and his brothers, located in the Damoh district. The raid began on Thursday and lasted well into Friday night according to officials.

"During the searches so far, ₹8 crore in cash has been recovered. Out of this, ₹1 crore was found in a bag which was hidden in a container of water. The department officers had to dry it by using iron and hair dryer before counting it," Income Tax (Investigation) Jabalpur circle, joint commissioner Munmun Sharma said.

Officials said around 200 personnel, including income tax department employees and policemen from Indore, Bhopal, Jabalpur and Gwalior, conducted searches at various premises of the businessman and his brothers Kamal Rai, Raju Rai and Sanjay Rai.

A ₹10,000 award has been announced for anyone who comes forward with information about the Rai brothers' business and assets. It is alleged by I-T officials that they were running luxury goods businesses in the names of their employees and also bagged the contacts of multiple liquor shops.

The Rai family is into liquor and transport business and also runs petrol stations in Damoh, according to sources.