Senior BJD leader alleges involvement of IAS, IPS officers in Odisha mining scam

Bhubaneswar, Mar 14 (PTI) Former Odisha minister Badri Narayan Patra has accused an IAS and an IPS officer of promoting the multi-crore mining and transport scam in Keonjhar district.

The senior BJD leader's allegations came after the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Odisha Crime Branch arrested Biju Yuva Janata Dal (BYJD) leader Soumya Shankar Chakra (alias Raja Chakra) for his alleged role in illegal mining operations.

The Economic Offence Wing of the Crime Branch, on Thursday, arrested Biju Yuva Janata Dal state vice-president Soumya Shankar Chakra, alias Raja Chakra, in connection with an alleged multi-crore mining and transport scam.

Patra, a six-time BJD MLA alleged: "As per my information, the then district magistrate-cum-collector and the superintendent of police, Keonjhar district, provided full protection to Raja Chakra." "The collector and SP were also part and parcel of such illegal activities. The duo had a share in the loot of minerals, financial irregularities, and kickbacks. They were in Keonjhar for nearly 5-6 years," the sitting BJD MLA from Ghasipura alleged.

Sources said that one Odisha cadre IPS officer of the 2010 batch was the superintendent of police (SP) of Keonjhar district for a long time, during which Raja Chakra was allegedly involved in illegal mining and transportation activities.

"The IPS officer concerned is also a recipient of three police medals for gallantry from the President of India," a senior official said, adding that the officer was shifted from Keonjhar.

Similarly, Patra took the name of a Maharashtra-born IAS officer of the 2011 batch and said that he had served as the district collector of Keonjhar from 2018 to 2024.

"I am sure these two officers will now also be getting shares from Raja Chakra’s illegal earnings," Patra alleged, demanding that all those, including the All India Service officers who supported Raja Chakra in illegal activities be arrested.

He alleged Raja Chakra could undertake all illegal activities due to the protection from the district collector and SP.

"The district administration was in Raja's pocket," he alleged.

Patra, being a senior leader of BJD from the mineral-rich district, further revealed that he had informed the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) during the previous government.

"I had given a confidential report to a senior officer (also an IAS officer) in the CMO before the 2024 elections stating that massive irregularities were being done in Keonjhar district. I had also mentioned that these activities could be detrimental to the ruling BJD’s electoral prospects and exactly that happened in the polls," Patra, a former minister in the Naveen Patnaik council of ministers, claimed.

Asked whether he had informed the then chief minister Naveen Patnaik regarding the illegal activities, Patra said: "No I have not told anything to the then chief minister. But, I submitted the report at his office." The veteran leader also said that it would be wrong to blame just one individual (Raja Chakra). Some influential people were backing him.

Though belonging to the Opposition party, Patra thanked the Mohan Charan Majhi government for cracking down on illegal activities.

He said: “I am not sure whether the investigating agency could reach the root of the scam." Odisha’s law minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said that the BJP government would ensure that all the persons involved in the illegal mining and transportation activities in Keonjhar district were booked.

Chakra, while being taken to the court, said: "I have faith in the judiciary." Chakra was, on Friday, produced before the OPID Court in Balasore and remanded to judicial custody till March 19, his lawyer Raghunath Pradhan said.

OPID stand for Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act, 2011, a court dealing with cases related to financial establishments and depositors' rights in the state.

The EOW said it arrested Chakra while probing an allegation made by a resident after registering a case on February 7.

The IAS and the IPS officers named by Patra remained silent and could not be contacted over the phone.

Meanwhile, the state’s main opposition party (BJD) also remained silent and was yet to react to the arrest of its youth wing leader in the mining scam.

The party has also not said anything about the statement made by its sitting MLA from Ghasipura Badri Narayan Patra.

Chakra’s name was earlier in discussion when he was accused of being behind an attack on the then-Opposition chief whip Mohan Charan Majhi in October 2021.

Majhi was attacked by two bike-borne miscreants who hurled country-made bombs at his car while he was returning from a public meeting in Keonjhar district. PTI AAM SBN SBN

Source: PTI