BERHAMPUR: A court in Berhampur acquitted BJP’s Berhampur MP Pradip Panigrahy in two job fraud cases on Tuesday.
The special designated court for MPs and MLAs also acquitted former IFS officer Abhay Pathak and his son Akash who were co-accused in one of the two cases.
The MP’s counsel Deepak Patnaik said the court acquitted Panigrahy in the two cases due to lack of evidence. One of the two cases was registered in Golanthara police station basing on the complaint of one Lakshmidhar Nayak. The other was registered in Baidyanathpur police station and the complainant was Kartik Pradhan, a police constable who served as the security officer of Panigrahy when he was the Gopalpur MLA.
A total of five job fraud cases were registered in Golanthara and Baidyanathpur police stations against the Berhampur MP. The five complainants had alleged that Panigrahy cheated them by falsely promising jobs in an automobile company.
Patnaik said all the complainants have already withdrawn their statements against the MP in the court. Three of the complainants withdrew their statements on December 18 last year. Hearing in these three cases is scheduled on Wednesday, he said.
Patnaik further informed that complainants of all the five cases admitted in the court that they were pressurised by senior officials of Ganjam district and BJD leaders to lodge FIRs against Panigrahy. They testified before the Berhampur JMFC court that they had not engaged in any financial transaction with Panigrahy and signed the complaint documents under pressure. The complainants also informed the court that they have never seen the Pathak duo who was named in only one case, he added.
Panigrahy was arrested by the CID of Crime Branch, Odisha on December 3, 2020 in connection with the job fraud allegations when he was a BJD MLA. Subsequently, he was expelled from the regional outfit. The Orissa High Court granted him bail on June 11, 2021. Later, Panigrahy joined BJP and was elected as the MP of Berhampur last year.