CM was ‘captain’ of looters, says Bijay Mohapatra
In the wake of the Supreme Court order for a CBI inquiry into the multi-crore chit fund scam, the BJP on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the State Government and branded Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik as the captain of the chit fund looters.
Patnaik must be brought under the CBI probe to serve the end of justice, said senior BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra at a Press conference here in the presence of BJP State president KV Singh Deo, MlA Pratap Sarangi and several other party leaders.
“The Chief Minister should come under the net of the CBI, which will probe into the multi-crore chit fund scam. He was the captain of the team and he was monitoring the entire loot process in his capacity as the Home Minister of the State. It is the end of the road for Patnaik,” he said.
Stating that the Chief Minister and his Government stand exposed after the Supreme Court judgement, Mohapatra said, “At least a dozen ruling party politicians including Ministers and MlAs are involved in the scam. You (Naveen Patnaik) know who are your people involved in the scam. You also attended the inauguration of a chit fund company. Would you reveal the names before the people,” asked Mohapatra.
He also asked the politicians and bureaucrats involved in the scam to surrender voluntarily before the CBI starts its investigation and then reaches their necks.
Continuing his attack on Patnaik, Mohapatra said, “You have done the mischievous act of protecting your party leaders. After the demand for a CBI probe got shriller, you deliberately wrote a letter to the Odisha High Court urging to spare a sitting judge to inquire into the scam despite knowing full well that the court could not engage a sitting judge.
Then, you appointed a commission. When the matter came to the Supreme Court, you engaged a highly-paid battery of lawyers only to defend the politicians involved in the scam, although it was a case between the chit fund companies and the investors.”
He asked the Chief Minister to clarify why he was resisting the CBI probe while the Governments of Assam and Tripura had already recommended a probe by the Central investigating agency into the chit fund scams in their respective States.
KV Singh Deo, who described the scam as Government-sponsored, said Naveen Patnaik should come clean by coming into the purview of the CBI probe.