BHUBANESWAR: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Crime Branch on Thursday arrested BJD leader Soumya Sankar Chakra alias Raja over his alleged links with Gandhamardan Loading Agency and Transporting Cooperative Society Ltd, the firm reportedly involved in over Rs 150 crore scam.
The move comes a day after the Orissa High Court rejected the pre-arrest bail plea of the state vice-president of Biju Yuva Janata Dal. EOW had registered a case in this regard on February 7 after receiving a complaint of large-scale irregularities and misappropriation of funds by the society which was set up for the welfare of the villagers affected by Gandhamardan mines in Keonjhar district.
Shocking claims followed Chakra’s arrest after senior BJD leader and Ghasipura MLA Badrinarayan Patra alleged that a former district collector and SP had backed him when he was involved in various illegal activities.
Investigation revealed, the loading agency had earned around Rs 185 crore from 2017 to March, 2024. Probe suggested its former president Manas Ranjan Barik and secretary Utkal Das in connivance with some influential local persons swindled huge amount of money. On February 7, EOW had arrested both Barik and Das.
Gandhamardan loading agency had claimed to have spent Rs 34 crore towards peripheral developmental activities but no work was carried out. Similarly, though Rs 9.1 crore was given to a fuel station named Maa Kali Petrol Pump, no fuel was supplied to the society and instead it was used to refill the transport vehicles of Chakra, said the EOW.
EOW’s probe revealed Gandhamardan agency 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 the society on paper, he was allegedly dictating its operations through his associates Sadashiv Samal, Sudhansu Shekhar Naik and Samir Jena.
The investigators also found out that Gandhamardan agency had claimed to have spent Rs 74 crore towards 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. EOW has also frozen several bank accounts and `25 lakh of Chakra.
Gandhamardan agency in Suakati was registered in 2006 and engaged in loading of iron ore from the mines of Odisha Mining Corporation in Keonjhar district.