JAGATSINGHPUR: The Congress activists burnt the effigy of Excise and Cooperation Minister Damodar Rout at Rahama on Friday accusing him of giving false statement that he does not know the mother of Subhranshu Lenka, the State coordinator of ponzi firm Astha International Limited.
Apparently, Subhranshu’s mother, Sushma Lenka, is a BJD Zilla Parishad member in Kujang block. On Thursday, the CBI raided her houses in Kathkota village and Rahama Bazaar in Tirtol. Sushma and her husband were staying in the house at Tirtol, but they managed to flee before the CBI team arrived.
The Minister’s arch rival and district unit BJD president Bishnu Das alleged that Rout had given party ticket to Sushma to contest the Zilla Parishad member post from Kujang.
The Congress leaders alleged that Rout had taken `25 lakh from Subhranshu for giving his mother the ticket. They further alleged that Subhranshu had given funds to Rout for the last Assembly election and demanded that the links between the Minister and the ponzi firm be investigated.
Astha International Limited, a Surat-based money circulation company, had opened two offices in Bhubaneswar and Berhampur in 2010. A separate cheating case was registered against the company at Berhampur, where the firm collected about `50 crore from depositors through different schemes promising high returns.
In Bhubaneswar, the company cheated people of more than `50 crore. In 2013, the Crime Branch (CB) had arrested Subhranshu while its team raided his house at Kathokot under Kujang police limits and another house at Rahama Bazaar under Tirtol police limits.
Meanwhile, Rout has rubbished the allegation and said that he does not know Sushma Lenka.