The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Wednesday dared Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to order a CBI probe into the Rs 10,000-crore land scam in and around Bhubaneswar during the 2000-12 period as it has been pointed in the audit report of Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.
“A mega land scam of nearly 460 acres worth Rs 10,000 crore has taken place during 14 years of the BJD Government out of which nine years was in partnership with BJP. This land transfer has directly generated kickbacks that have financed much of the election expenses of the ruling BJD,” said AAP State coordinator Dhananda Kanta Mishra.
Mishra said, “Shocking details of this mega scam over the period of 2000-12 has come to light by the CAG audit which has been discussed in great details in its report number 4 of 2013, simultaneously exposing that the valuable Government land has been transferred without any policy, procedures or rules other than reference to the Government Grants Act of 1985.”
Giving instances of the scams, Mishra said a plot in the Chandrasekharpur area was sold by auction to a mining company measuring 11,582 sqft in 2009 for just over Rs 5 crore in 2011 while the market value of the plot is actually very high. Similarly, an allotment of 1.61 acres to Rashmi Plaza at the cost of only Rs 1.61 crore in front of Satyam computer also exposed the arbitrariness of the Government.
Further, the land granted to Revenue Minister Surjya Narayan Patro’s son for a hotel was at a throwaway price comparable to the cost charged to a Saraswati Sisu Vidaya Mandir near the Minister’s son’s plot though the school is nonprofit and charitable organisation, charged Mishra. “All these scams took place under the direct supervision of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) and the General Administration (GA) Department which is also under the control of the CM. Hence, the CM should order a CBI probe to prove his clean image,” said Mishra.