BHUBANESWAR: The BJP on Monday targeted Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik over the Mahanga double murder case accusing him of shielding Law Minister Pratap Jena despite his alleged involvement in the case.
State BJP president Samir Mohanty said despite Jena being named in the FIR filed in the double murder case, the Chief Minister has given Jena a clean chit by allowing him to enter the Assembly and sharing stage with him at public functions. He said the Mahanga IIC is not following the orders of JMFC, Salepur, which had directed him to submit the investigation report and call detail records of the accused.
“The defiance of the police officer shows that he has scant regard for the court of law as he is working under the instructions of the Law Minister,” Mohanty alleged. He said that the IIC is filing time petitions deliberately to see that the call records are deleted automatically.
“As per the existing rules, records or call data of telecom companies are stored for a year. The lower court had asked the IIC to submit the call records in December last year. Everything is being done in a calculated manner to protect the Minister and the Chief Minister is not allowing the law to take its course,” the saffron party leader said.