Bhubaneswar, Nov. 21: The CBI today interrogated Rajya Sabha member and Odisha Jan Morcha chief Pyari Mohan Mohapatra in connection with the money deposit collection scam.
The CBI team made Mohapatra and Seashore Group chief Prashant Dash, who is in its custody, sit face-to-face and were subjected to questioning to find out whether there was any business relationship between them.
Barely one hour after Mohapatra had left the central agency’s office, the BJD’s Cuttack-Choudwar MLA Pravat Biswal, once considered a trusted lieutenant of Mohapatra, too, appeared before the CBI and had been subjected to intensive interrogation for five-and-a-half hours.
Biswal’s wife Laxmibilasini Biswal, a former chairperson of the Cuttack Zilla Parishad, and his nephew Animesh Biswal, who is working in a private bank in Bhuba-neswar, too, turned up at the CBI office in the evening.
Biswal is said to have played a major role in the alleged coup against chief minister Naveen Patnaik on May 29, 2012. Subsequently, the bureaucrat-turned-politician Mohapatra was thrown out of the BJD and Biswal was placed under suspension. It was revoked later, and Biswal was given the party ticket.
Sources said that during the interrogation, the CBI had questioned Mohapatra for nearly four-and-a-half hours to find out whether he had used his influence to help the Seashore Group expand its business in the state. Mohapatra, a former aide of late Biju Patnaik, had wielded considerable clout in the BJD government because of his proximity with the chief minister till he was thrown out of the party in 2012.
Talking to reporters about the CBI’s decision to grill him and Dash together, Mohapatra said: “This is a normal technique of an investigating agency to check the veracity of charges. I met the accused (Dash) during the interrogation.”
Mohapatra had appeared before the officials of the Enforcement Directorate earlier and the CBI team raided his houses in Delhi and Bhubaneswar on November 18.
Mohapatra, who had earlier maintained that he would welcome a CBI probe as this would clear misconception about his alleged wealth, today refused to make any comment on his interrogation.
Emerging from the CBI office following his interrogation, Mohapatra said the CBI could question anyone it thought fit “...including the chief minister”.
“As an investigative agency, the CBI keeps such things secret. I cannot say anything about the interrogation. It will hamper the investigation. I have replied to all their questions,” he said.
Official sources said the agency summoned him after Dash’s comment that his company had faced difficult times shortly after the alleged coup attempt against the chief minister. However, Mohapatra dismissed the claim and said the state government had harassed a lot of people, including Dash, on the suspicion that they had links with him.
On Thursday, Mohapatra had told a private news channel that he didn’t have any idea till 2012 that Seashore was a deposit collection company.
Earlier, Mohapatra admitted that Dash had met him twice, once in connection with setting up of a maize plant at Ummerkote in Nabarangpur district, and the second time, when he launched a regional TV channel in 2011. Big guns such as chief minister Naveen Patnaik had also attended the inaugural ceremony of the channel.
Sources said the CBI questioned Biswal to know whether he had given his support to the Seashore company in getting land from the government in the Jagatpur industrial estate and for setting up the water sports complex on the Mahanadi river in Cuttack.
In a related development, the Khurda sessions judge today postponed hearing on the bail plea of BJD’s Banki MLA Pravat Tripathy, who is in jail for his alleged links with the Artha Tatwa Group, another money deposit collection company.
The CBI today also raided the administrative office of Bhushan Steel and Power Limited in Sambalpur. Though the raids were confirmed officially, the reasons behind the raids could not be ascertained.
