Bhubaneswar, Sept. 13: City police today lodged an FIR on the alleged case of horse trading that took place during the 2010 Rajya Sabha elections.

“A case has been registered at Capital police station against some ministers and legislators. We have started investigating into it from today,” police commissioner B.K. Sharma told The Telegraph.

The FIR does not name “Ministers and MLAs,” though the Opposition parties of Orissa — the Congress and the BJP — had been demanding criminal action against state labour and employment minister Pusphendra Singh Deo and energy minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak as their names had figured in the recorded conversations.

Apart from seeking action against three MLAs, who had allegedly helped the ruling party candidates to win the polls, the Opposition parties had also demanded action against chief minister Naveen Patnaik and Rajya Sabha member Pyari Mohan Mohapatra for “masterminding” the operation.

A case had been registered under sections 7, 8, 9 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Section 123 of the Representation of Peoples Act, and sections 171(e) and 120(b) of the Indian Penal Code, said the police commissioner.

The police lodged the FIR after Orissa’s home department formally forwarded to them certain communications, along with two audio CDs, from the Election Commission. “All these documents, along with the Election Commission’s directive, will form part of the FIR,” said Sharma, adding that a technical committee would verify the authenticity of the audio CDs.

The Election Commission has asked Orissa police to file an FIR, investigate into the allegations and prosecute the guilty in the court of law. The commission has also asked for a compliance report.

Orissa ministers Singhdeo and Nayak and two MLAs belonging to Opposition parties were accused of being involved in the alleged case of horse trading. All the accused persons, however, had denied the allegations.

The alleged case of horse trading came to limelight in June when a local channel telecast the audio CD where a minister was purportedly striking a deal with a middleman to win over a Congress MLA.

Subsequently, another CD also surfaced in the market and was aired by another television channel in which an independent candidate, backed by the Congress and the BJD, was heard fixing the amount that was to be given to a BJP MLA. Orissa government had referred the matter to the Election Commission, which, in turn, directed the state to lodge an FIR in the matter.