The fallout of the Supreme Court’s order for CBI probe into the multi-crore chit fund scam in the State is likely to open the Pandora’s Box in the ruling BJD.
The sword now hangs on some of the high-profile BJD go-getters whose names are often discussed in public and media for their alleged link with some dubious Ponzi companies and also being the alleged beneficiaries.
With the apex court’s order for CBI probe into the Ponzi module, the chances of the BJD leaders in question now look bleak to get a berth in the possible new Ministry of Naveen Patnaik in case he manages to get a majority.
Though the results of the simultaneous elections to the lok Sabha and State Assembly are scheduled to be declared on May 16, the BJD is confident of returning to power for the fourth time straight. The BJD chief in his guarded statement had said that the party would do fine in both the polls. At the same time, a few BJD leaders too had predicted of the party’s victory though they had admitted that there would be a marked fall in the number of seats to be secured. They had said that the BJD would secure between 80 and 85 seats in the 147- member Assembly.
Be that as it may, the names of some Cabinet Ministers, present MlAs and influential leaders of ruling BJD are doing the rounds for their link with chit fund companies like- Arth Tatwa and Seashore. It was alleged that the Chief Minister in a bid to protect his image by saving his Ministers and leaders and shielding the offenders had appointed a Judicial Commission headed by Justice Patra and handed over the case for investigation by the State Crime Branch and police.
Besides, it had constituted a corpus fund to the tune of Rs 300 crore ahead of the elections. However, the Chief Minister had ignored the demand by almost all the opposition political parties and the affected investors for a CBI probe to unearth the involvement of ruling party leaders.
The names of several politicians including that of the opposition had come up for their involvement in the scam and even the name of the Chief Minister had come up.
The intension of the Government was questioned as the investigation was done by the Economic Offence Wing in some cases while the Bhubaneswar Commissionerate of police were assigned to investigate into the mega scam committed by Arthatatwa and Seashore. Rightly, not being satisfied with the progress of investigation, the Supreme Court had questioned the efficiency of the State police to investigate into the money trail as influential persons were allegedly involved in the scam.
Hearing a PIl from one Alok Jena, the apex court on Friday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate into the chit fund scams in several States, including Odisha. At least 44 companies in Odisha will be probed by the CBI. They include Kolkata-based Saradha Group, and Odisha-based Seashore and Artha Tatwa groups. The scam in the Ponzi schemes is claimed to be running into billions of rupees.
The alleged scams came to light after many investors a few years back had complained that several firms collected huge amounts of money from them promising high returns, but later refused to pay back as promised.
Meanwhile, the Justice Patra Commission had received around 10 lakh affidavits from various persons including the affected investors of which so far only 2.29 lakh affidavits could be examined during last nine months. Similarly, the Crime Branch had filed as many as 441 cases and as many as 669 persons were arrested in connection with the case, official sources said.