BHUBANESWAR: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch on Thursday arrested BJD leader Soumya Sankar Chakra for his alleged connection to Gandhamardan Loading Agency and Transporting Cooperative Society Ltd.
The firm is reportedly involved in a scam of over Rs 150 crore.
Chakra, the state vice-president of Biju Yuva Janata Dal, was apprehended a day after the Orissa High Court rejected his pre-arrest bail petition.
The EOW registered a case on February 7 after receiving a complaint about large-scale irregularities in Gandhamardan Loading Agency. The complaint alleged the misappropriation of society funds meant for the welfare of villagers affected by mining in Keonjhar.
The investigation revealed that the loading agency had earned around Rs 185 crore from 2017 to March 2024. A preliminary probe suggested that the agency's former president, Manas Ranjan Barik, and secretary, Utkal Das, in connivance with some influential local persons, had swindled huge amounts of money.
Gandhamardan had claimed to have spent Rs 34 crore on peripheral developmental activities, but no work was carried out. Similarly, Rs 9.1 crore was given to a fuel station named Maa Kali Petrol Pump. However, no fuel was supplied to Gandhamardan and was instead used to refill the transport vehicles of Chakra, said the EOW.
The EOW's probe revealed that Gandhamardan had dispersed a whopping Rs 33 crore to local villagers, who are reportedly members of the cooperative society, to ensure they always extended their support to Chakra. Though Chakra was not associated with Gandhamardan on paper, the society was operating under his directives through his associates Sadashiv Samal, Sudhansu Shekhar Naik, and Samir Jena.
The investigators also found that Gandhamardan had claimed to have spent Rs 74 crore on loading charges and labour payments, but the muster rolls and vouchers indicated a huge mismatch.
"The society has not conducted any audit since 2012 and 2013. A detailed audit will be conducted to ascertain the total misappropriation of funds," said CB DG, Vinaytosh Mishra.
Sources said the BJD leader reportedly owns various firms like Sankar Minerals, Sankar Transporting, Sankar Roadways, and Sankar Projects. So far, the agency has seized his two screening plants and 42 vehicles. The EOW has also frozen several bank accounts and Rs 25 lakh belonging to Chakra.