Bhubaneswar, April 8: The Congress and the BJP today made fresh allegations against Odisha's food supplies and consumer welfare minister Sanjay Das Burma, saying that companies run by his family have benefited from the money deposit collection firms.

They demanded that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should expand its investigation and find out the source of money being invested in these companies.

According to the allegations, funds have been invested in the name of family members of Das Burma in Nilachala Granite Pvt Ltd, Nilachala Mining Pvt Ltd, Team Media and Hospitality Pvt Ltd, Nilachala Builders Pvt Ltd and Techoshine Info Solution Pvt Ltd. The registered office of all these companies is L-3/2 Labour Colony at Kharavela Nagar, Unit-III, the minister's residence, where he lives with his family members.

At present, the CBI is investigating Das Burma's alleged possession of two SUVs (Mitsubishi Pajero), which had allegedly been bought with the money provided by the Artha Tatwa Group, a sham deposit collection company. Das Burma's representatives have already submitted the required papers to the CBI in this regard. The minister has clarified that he had brought the SUVs with a bank loan.

State BJP vice-president Samir Mohanty said: "The directors of the companies, into which funds from the money deposit collection firms have been invested, are family members of Das Burma. They are Satyprakash Jayasingh, Suryaprakash Jayasingh, Bhimsen Jayasingh and the minister's father Ramakrishna Das and wife Sailabala Das Burma. The firms have profited from sham companies. The money laundering aspect of these companies should also be inquired into."

Das Burma's arch-rival from Brahamagiri, senior Congress leader Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra, said: "The CBI should find out who are the proprietors of these companies and their turnover. This is only tip of the iceberg."

Even as the Opposition stepped up pressure on the government, chief minister Naveen Patnaik today left for a five-day visit to New Delhi leaving the BJD leaders in a tizzy. Some local TV channels ran a story about chief minister calling a meeting of five ministers, including Das Burma, to discuss the issue of CBI probe against the minister.

However, it later turned out that health minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak, energy minister Pranab Prakas Das, law minister Arun Sahu and higher education minister Pradeep Panigrahi and Das Burma had been to the Chief Minister's Office for a meeting on issues pertaining to the higher education department.

While Das Burma maintained silence over the charges, BJD spokesperson Pratap Jena came to his defence. "The CBI is being managed by the Centre. The BJP and the Congress in the state have joined hands to defame the BJD government," said Jena.

"Why is the file being reopened now when AT chief Pradip Sethi was interrogated around one-and-a-half years ago? Even the charge sheet in the AT case has already been submitted. Besides, one would like to know how the CBI's secret documents have fallen in the hands of politicians?" asked Jena.