BHUBANESWAR : The Economic Offence Wing of Crime Branch on Monday quizzed BJD leader Raja Chakra for his alleged involvement with office-bearers of Gandhamardan Loading Agency and Transporting Cooperative Society limited in the misappropriation of Rs 35 crore.
EOW had arrested former president Manas Ranjan Barik and secretary Utkal Das of Gandhamardan Agency, which is engaged in loading iron ore from mines of Odisha Mining Corporation, on February 7 for their alleged role in the scam.
The agency was registered in 2006 and engaged in loading of iron ore from the mines in Keonjhar district.
Investigation revealed the operations of the society were monopolised by a handful of influential outsiders who entered into a criminal conspiracy with the office-bearers to misappropriate crores of rupees between 2017 and 2024.
The accused reportedly forged documents related to labour costs, employment provident fund deductions, money spent towards peripheral developmental activities, infrastructural expenses and payments made to the people affected in the mining area.
“Preliminary probe suggests Raja Chakra is one of the beneficiaries of the fraud. It is a massive scam and requires a thorough probe by agencies like Income Tax department and Enforcement Directorate,” said EOW sources.
This is not for the first time that Chakra, a local BJD leader in Keonjhar, has landed in a controversy. In October 2021, the then Opposition chief whip Mohan Majhi had alleged that Chakra was behind the attack when two bike-borne miscreants had hurled country-made bombs at his car while he was returning from a public meeting in the district.