The State GST officials had conducted raid in the house of a retired Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) employee five days ago here. This was confirmed by on Monday by the State GST Deputy Commissioner at Rourkela.
Sources said on July 24 morning, following a raid by a four- member team at house No. A/104, sector-8 of Sibnath Prasad(72), identifying themselves as GST officials, Prasad had received a brain stroke and was hospitalized in serious condition in the local IGH and later shifted to a Bhubaneswar based private hospital.
However, the sleuths later told that they had wrongfully raided the house as they got no evidence there. While the family members were in a state of shock over the incident, they were planning to initiate legal proceeding against the raid officials.
But when the Central GST officials had denied of having conducted any raid, there was a suspense as to who conducted the raid.
On Monday, however, the State GST authority here confirmed that their officers had conducted raid in the house of Prasad.
"We had got complaints of an irregular business activity in the mentioned address, for which a team of the State GST had conducted a raid," said Deputy Commissioner, State GST Rourkela, Lingaraj Pradhan.
"It was not a raid as such; just an inspection," Pradhan clarified. "Unfortunately, during the process of inquiry the house owner had fallen sick, following which our officials had immediately extended all cooperation to rush him to hospital," Pradhan added. The State GST officials confirmed that they had entered into the correct address but later could come to know that the house owner was not the one they were looking for.
Meanwhile, the health condition of Prasad who had been admitted in a private hospital at Bhubaneswar has improved and he has been shifted to a general ward from the ICU on Sunday.
The locals here have condemned the raid on the house of an innocent.