The State Unit of BJP on Friday demanded a judicial probe into the multi-crore chit fund scam in the State by a sitting Judge of the Odisha High Court in a fixed time frame, while urging the State Government to make public the names of the ruling party leaders, including Ministers and MlAs, administrators, police and others having nexus with the chit fund companies and take action against them.
Addressing a Press conference here, party spokesperson Samir Mohanty and BJP supported independent MlA Pratap Sarangi slammed the ruling BJD, particularly the Chief Minister, for encouraging and protecting the chit fund companies who have looted the depositors and sought his resignation.
While holding the Govt accountable for the lapses in law enforcement and poor regulation, they demanded immediate steps to ensure refund of money to the hapless investors in chit fund companies by announcing a comprehensive blue print in this regard. Steps should be taken to confiscate the movable and immovable properties of the chit fund companies involved in the scam and their promoters to recover the funds for compensating the affected depositors, who are on the verge of committing suicide, they said.
Referring to reports about involvement of some BJD Ministers and MlAs in providing protection to some of the scam tainted institutions like Artha Tatwa, Saradha Group and Sea Shore Group, they demanded that their names be made public and they should be arrested.
Rejecting the ongoing Crime Branch inquiry, they said that since the ruling party men, including the Chief Minister who holds the Home Department, were the abettors of the crime for their unholy nexus with the chit fund companies, the probe by the State agencies would not hold good. Only a sitting Odisha High Court Judge can conduct an impartial probe, the claimed.
They alleged that while the companies in question had flouted laid-down rules, announced various Ponzi schemes and duped lakhs of small depositors of crores of rupees causing misery and hardship, the BJD Government had been a mute spectator to all this and intervened only after people lost their deposits. On the other hand, the Chief Minister and other Ministers of his Cabinet had been instrumental in encouraging the loot by inaugurating a number of their schemes and projects. While the OTDC had partnership with tainted Sea Shore Group, the AT Group CMD Pradeep Sethi was given the best cooperator award by the Governor in presence of the Ministers.
Sarangi sought the State to publish the names of the political leaders and administrators taking protection money amounting to Rs 75 crore from Pradeep Sethi and several hundred crores of rupees from Sharada Group CMD Sudipta Sen.