Bhubaneswar, May 12: The Orissa government today ordered a probe by the CID-CB against finance minister Prafulla Ghadei after a person accused him of “sacrificing” his 14-year-old son.

Ghadei, who was acquitted of a murder charge about five years ago, has now been embroiled in a controversy after a person from his constituency accused him of sacrificing his 14-year-old son.

The probe order came after chief minister Naveen Patnaik met top police officials this evening. The investigation order comes days before the Naveen Patnaik government celebrates its first anniversary of the BJD-BJP’s second term in office.

However, the order did not specify any timeframe and the rank of the CID officer who would undertake the inquiry.

The minister, who was earlier at the centre of a controversy over the change of an idol in a temple, said he welcomed the CID-CB probe. “The charges are politically motivated. But the investigation will bring out the truth,” he told The Telegraph.

Haladhar Mahanata, hailing from Nator village under Sukinda Assembly constituency of Jajpur district, had complained that his teenaged son Bholeswar was sacrificed in the minister’s house, where he was sent to work as a domestic help.

In affidavits submitted before the additional director-general of police (intelligence), Manmohan Praharaj, and Bhubaneswar notary public Ramlal Agrawal, Mahanta said his 14-year-old son Bholeswar Mohanto has been missing since February 6.

In the affidavits, Mahanta expressed apprehensions about his son being offered as human sacrifice by the minister.

In his affidavit, 50-year-old Mahanta has stated that his sister-in-law Sanjulata Mahanta and another woman of his area came to his house on the morning of February 6 when he was not present. “They took my son while assuring my wife that he would be employed as a babysitter for the minister’s grandson in Bhubaneswar. When I went to the minister's residence after 19 days I was told that my son was in the house of one Samrat Gupta in Kaliapani,” he said in the affidavit.

Gupta is an associate of the finance minister.

Mahanta added that he was threatened with dire consequences when he went to the house of Gupta. He wanted to lodge a complaint, but the local police refused to register one.