CBI probe demanded
Reiterating their demand for a CBI probe into the mega land allotment scam by the Idco, as many as 28 civil society groups on Monday together alleged that the Idoco has also allotted land ‘illegally’ to a person in the Rourkela Industrial Estate whose whereabouts are yet to be confirmed.
“The land scam is not only confined to Bhubaneswar and Cuttack only. The Idco, the nodal agency of the Government for providing land for industries and arranging land for all such projects in any location of the State, has illegally allotted 0.145 acre of land to one Satyanarayan Mohanty in the Rourkela Industrial Estate at a cost of only `7,89,350 in an arbitrary manner,” alleged Odisha Soochana Adhikar Manch convenor Pradip Pradhan here at a Press conference.
“No such person is available in the area against whom the land has been allotted. The Idco allotted the land in Satyanarayan Mohanty’s name on September 20, 2008 on the ground that he had encroached the land for a long period of time while the Idco itself in its 72nd board meeting held on February 2, 2008 had decided not to regularise land in the name of encroachers,” added Pradhan.
Pradhan alleged that beyond the CAG report, there are many instances of irregularities in land allotment by the Idco. “We demand a thorough CBI probe into the land allotments made by the Idco since 1980. We too demand a progress report of the Taskforce investigating the land and plot allotment scam in the BDA and CDA,” said Jan Adhikar Manch convenor Tapan Mishra.