BHUBANESWAR: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday carried out searches at the property linked to former Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Niranjan Patnaik.
Sources in the central agency confirmed the raids but remained tight-lipped about the matter. “Simultaneous searches were carried out in at least five locations across the state linked to Niranjan Patnaik. More details will be shared in the coming days,” said ED sources.
Though ED is yet to release a statement officially, sources said the investigation could be linked to the mining business in which the senior Congressman’s kin have interests. Asked about the searches, Niranjan told the newspaper that he is involved in politics and is not a businessman. “I am a political person and not a businessman. I have nothing to do with business. ED officers had also not served any notice to me. Please ask them, what they found during the searches,” he said. Sources said ED officers questioned some of Niranjan’s family members for over 30 minutes earlier in the day.
The development comes two days after ED conducted searches across four locations in Odisha and Delhi linked to opposition chief whip Pramila Mallik’s late brother Khirod Mallik over the alleged Rs 231 crore bank fraud case. In a statement issued on Friday, the central agency said during the searches, 505 suspected benami accounts of different individuals and SHGs were traced.
ED says Khirod took deposits
Over Rs 72 lakh in cash was frozen from these accounts and shares worth Rs 10 lakh were seized along with other incriminating documents like sale deeds, chequebooks and digital devices. Further investigation is underway, said the ED.
ED said its investigation revealed NGO, Bharat Integrated Social Welfare Agency (BISWA) was run by Khirod under the guise of financing self-help groups and joint liability firms. However, Khirod allegedly misutilised the funds and started accepting deposits from the public which was not allowed as per the RBI guidelines. The NGO was also involved in loan frauds amounting to over Rs 200 crore, read the statement.