Bhubaneswar, May 10: The Opposition today slammed chief minister Naveen Patnaik following the Supreme Court order for a CBI probe into the deposit collection scam.

“It is the end of the road for Naveen. He was holding the home portfolio when the entire loot took place. He should come under the net of the CBI, which will probe into the activities of these sham companies,” said BJP leader and a known bete-noire of Naveen, Bijoy Mohapatra.

Stating that the Naveen government was vacillating in it stance over a CBI probe, Mohapatra said: “Influential people, including ministers and legislators, are involved in the scam. Now, time has come for the people to know the names of the people, who facilitated the mega loot. Those who worked behind the scenes, hobnobbed with scamsters and pulled strings in their favour should be exposed and booked.”

He accused the chief minister of protecting “his party leaders involved in the scam”. When a demand for a CBI probe was made, the Naveen government tried to divert the issue by urging Orissa High Court to spare a sitting judge for a probe.

“When the court turned down the plea, he appointed a commission to probe the issue. There were deliberate attempts to dilute the investigation,” he said.

On the state government’s acceptance for the CBI probe, Mohapatra said: “If it was so, why did the state government engage a battery of lawyers in the Supreme Court to defend the state government? It was a case between the money deposit companies and the investors.”

He reiterated the allegations made by Congress leader Srikant Jena and asked: “Why did chief minister Naveen Patnaik attend a promotional event organised by the Sea Shore, one of the major companies involved in the scam?”

BJP state president K.V. Singh Deo said: “The chief minister allowed the culprits to go scot-free.”

Two vice presidents of the ruling party, Kalpataru Das and Damador Rout, however, dismissed the allegations and maintained that an attempt was being made to take political mileage out of the court order.

Rout said: “The Opposition will not succeed in its efforts to tarnish the image of Naveen Patnaik. The state government had ordered a probe immediately after the incident came to light. We set up a commission of inquiry and passed a law to confiscate the properties of dubious companies. Any one found guilty must be punished. We are not opposed to that. Our stand is quite clear.”

Das said: “One must remember that the apex court has also praised the investigation being done by Odisha police.”