Bhubaneswar: The CBI on Monday grilled retired IAS officer Sangram Keshari Ray for three hours at its office here in connection with his alleged links with the Seashore Group, a money deposit collection company.
The Seashore Group is among the 44 companies allegedly involved in the money deposit scam in the state.
The CBI on Saturday summoned Ray and Parag Gupta, a 1988 batch IAS officer now working as a joint secretary in the ministry of food processing in Delhi, to appear before it on Monday in connection with their alleged links with the Seashore Group.
The CBI, under directions of the Supreme Court, is probing the group as part of its investigation. However, Gupta did not turn up for questioning till the time of filing of the report on Monday.
Gupta was secretary, tourism department, and Ray was working as general manager of Odisha Tourism Development Corporation during the period when the Seashore Group allegedly duped lakhs of investors by luring them with offers of high returns on their investment.
Both the officers face the charge of favouring the Ponzi company, whose chief Prashant Das has been put behind bars.
During the interrogation, Das pleaded ignorance about the role of the two officers. " I don't know them," he said.
The CBI summonses to the two senior officers has triggered a war of words between the BJD and the BJP with the former alleging that the Centre was using the CBI as "a political weapon" ahead of the general elections.
BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb said: "The BJP talks of good governance and quick disposal of cases. But even cases under the CBI's supervision have been lingering for the last four years. This raises questions about the intention of the agency. Is it not political witch-hunting?"
Another senior BJD leader said: "The BJP is trying to target our party using the CBI as a weapon. It has arrested some of our leaders in the money deposit scam related cases."
He said every time BJP national president Amit Shah visited the state, there was talk of the CBI probe. Incidentally, Shah visited the state on Sunday and held closed-door meetings with the party leaders here.
"But despite such moves, they have failed to dent the image of Naveen," the leader said.
BJD Rajya Sabha member Prasanna Acharya said: "Whenever there is an election, the CBI becomes hyperactive. It is more active than political parties."
On the other hand, senior BJP leader Suresh Pujari said: "It is the Naveen government which is using crime branch and the vigilance as political weapons. In the money deposit collection case, the CBI is doing its job and those found guilty will be held."
The CBI, which took over probe into the money deposit scam in 2014 following a Supreme Court order, has so far arrested a number of BJD leaders, including Mayurbhanj MP Ramachandra Hansda, Banki MLA Pravat Tripathy and Cuttack Sadar MLA Pravat Biswal. Both Tripathy and Biswal are out on bail, while Hansda is still in jail.
