(Top) Kalpataru Das and Pranab Balabantaray

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 22: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) vice-president and Rajya Sabha member Kalpataru Das’s son and Dharmasala MLA Pranab Balbantaray is in the news again for allegedly having bought five acres of a 100-acre patch of controversial land in the Chandaka forest area, on the city outskirts.

Balabantaray, who had last month surrendered two houses allotted in his favour by Bhubaneswar Development Authority and Odisha State Housing Board following a furore over questionable discretionary quota allotments, has sought to wriggle out of the controversy saying he had sold the five acres of the property, where the construction of a road has raised eyebrows.

Balbantaray said he had been given patta for five acres out of the 100acres.

“It was bought in the name of Gokarneswar Charitable Trust to set up an educational institution in 2009. After the project did not prove viable, the five acres were sold in 2012,” he said.

The state government, however, today ordered a survey of the three-km road under construction by the revenue and forest departments.

No government department — be it forest, revenue, rural development or panchayati raj — is willing to own the construction of the road that will provide connectivity to nearly 100 acres of land in Ghangapatna area, 13 kilometres from the state secretariat.

Revenue minister Bijayshree Routray told The Telegraph that revenue and forest departments would ascertain the ownership of the land.

The revenue department has asked district collector Niranjan Sahu to submit a report on the construction of a road in the area without the knowledge of the district administration.

The forest department has asked its local divisional forest officer to conduct the probe along with the revenue administration.

Forest minister Bikram Keshari Arukh said preliminary inquiry has revealed that the road did not come under the jurisdiction of his department. “I have asked my officials to conduct a detailed probe,” he said.

Rural development minister Badri Narayan Patra said: “Our executive engineer has visited the site. According to his report, the road does not belong to our department.”

Incidentally, local settlers alleged that the palli sabhas (village level meeting) was convened twice for the construction of the road and they had boycotted both the meetings.

Panchayati raj minister Arun Sahu, however, was not available for his comments.

Commenting on the controversy, leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra said: “The government is aware of the scam. A complaint was submitted to the chief minister. But the government is sitting on it only to protect the corrupt.”

Senior BJP leader Pratap Sarangi demanded stern punishment for those involved in the case. “They should be sent to jail,” he said.

Only last month, the controversy over allotment of more than one government house to influential people, including Pranab Balabantaray, had rocked the Assembly after The Telegraph carried a report on the issue on July 23 based on a letter written to the state government by the accountant general.

Giving into pressure, both from within and outside the party, the BJD MLA had to surrender both the houses.