A day after seizing five vehicles, including a luxurious one, belonging to arrest former Sanakhemundi Congress MlA Ramesh Jena in Brahmapur, the Commissionerate Police on Monday seized one more vehicle allegedly belonging to him from the Mancheswar area in Bhubaneswar.
Though the ownership of the vehicle, a Mahindra Scorpio, was yet to be ascertained, police claimed that it is Jena’s.
The assertion by the police came after it nabbed a gang of four dacoits from Naharkanta in Cuttack on Monday morning. During the seizure, the police came across a photograph in which one of the gang members, Santosh Behera, was seen posing with two vehicles of Jena.
The suspicion about Jena’s links with Behera, who also hails from Brahmapur, grew as one of the photographed vehicles was among those seized by police on Sunday.
Police have so far seized five vehicles belonging to the former MlA, together worth more than `2 crore in cash, from different parts of the State.
Brahmapur Addition Superintendent of Police Trinath Patel said, “A Volkswagen Jetta was recovered in a raid in Bhubaneswar. A lexus bearing a fake registration number was also found there. The ownership of the vehicles has not been established yet.”
Meanwhile, a Brahmapur Municipal Corporation (BMC) Council meeting was rocked on Monday by Congress corporators over the issue of frequent police summons to a party Corporator, R Murali Mohan.
As soon as the meeting started, Congress corporators raised the issue of police summoning Mohan. They shouted slogans against the Mayor and the BJD Government and later boycotted the meeting.
Meanwhile, the police are inspecting various tender files of the BMC suspecting involvement of Jena in tender-fixing. All tenders of the BMC over the last one year are under scanner, sources said. The police are looking into the role of Jena and his aides in the tenders of the BMC. The cops are also probing whether the tender processes were fairly conducted.
Sources said three police officers, four to five Corporators, block officers along with some builders and contractors are likely to be questioned during the investigation.
“For now, two BMC officials and a few builders of Brahmapur are under the police scanner. After inspection of files, necessary action will be taken up,” source said. Though a notice had been sent to a builder for interrogation, he has reportedly absconded.
In another development, a police team including a senior DSP and the Inspector of the Brahmapur police has been formed for interrogation of Jena.