BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday dismissed the ruling BJD's allegations that Centre is using the CBI to settle political score against the opposition.
"The CBI enquiry into the chit fund scam is being monitored by the Supreme Court. The investigating agency is doing its job. Those who believe that the Central Government is manipulating the agency are grossly mistaken," Pradhan told reporters after his arrival from New Delhi.
Pradhan said they (BJD) can make any allegation they want. The ones whose case is weak make the most clamour. The BJD is scared as some of its senior leaders have been arrested while several others are being questioned by the CBI.
Those who are questioning the timing of the CBI raids are obviously not in favour of the investigation into the multi-crore scam which flourished under the BJD Government. More than the timing of investigation, what matters is the probe should be led to a logical conclusion.
The fear of the BJD Government is understandable as they have allowed some people to loot lakhs of poor investors of the State. Now they are trying to divert the attention of people by making wild allegations against a premier investigating agency like CBI which is not good for the country, he added.
Asked if the Vigilance crackdown is a counter to the recent CBI raids at the houses of various BJD leaders in and outside the State in connection with chit fund scam, Pradhan said he does not think so.
The investigating agencies should be allowed to function freely so that they can reach to the bottom of the matter and find out the violators of law.
Justifying the vigilance raids, BJD spokesperson Samir Dash said the Supreme Court had once called CBI a caged parrot. That speaks volumes about the agency. The CBI raids on some BJD leaders just before the panchayat polls clearly demonstrates who is behind such action.