PATNA: A day before Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s first poll rallies in Bihar, a team of income tax officials raided Sadaqat Ashram, the party’s state headquarters in Patna, on Thursday evening after recovery of a cash amount of Rs 8.50 lakh from a vehicle at the campus.
According to official sources, three persons, all residents of Gaya, were detained by police in connection with the cash recovery. The I-T officials refused to divulge any details till the probe is complete.
Senior Congress leaders, including Randeep Singh Surjewala and Shakti Singh Gohil, were present at the party office at the time of the raid. Gohil said the I-T search was politically motivated and a conspiracy by rivals to put pressure on the party.
The Congress’s alliance partner, the RJD, also took a dig at the ruling JD(U)-BJP combine hinting they were rattled by the prospect of defeat.
“Documents have started getting destroyed in fires at the Secretariat. The I-T department has started raiding Opposition parties. Do you understand the meaning? This is called accepting defeat,” the party tweeted.