Bhupinder Singh and Naveen Patnaik

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 20: The Congress in Odisha today demanded a probe by an independent agency into the alleged link between chief minister Naveen Patnaik and the Maoists.

“This is a very serious matter which needs to be probed by a judicial commission or the Central Bureau of Investigation,” said leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh.

Raising the issue in the Odisha Assembly today, Congress member Santosh Singh Saluja said that the student wing president of Odisha Jana Morcha, Prafulla Kumar Nayak, had lodged a complaint in Capital police station against the chief minister and school and mass education minister Rabi Narayan Nanda yesterday accusing them of having Maoist links.

Odisha Jana Morcha is headed by Rajya Sabha member and expelled BJD leader Pyarimohan Mohapatra, who was enjoying clout in the ruling party before the May 29 failed coup against the chief minister.

On February 17, Odisha Lok Dal president D.R. Mohanty had lodged a complaint with the police accusing Mohapatra having links with the Maoists. Mohapatra had reacted sharply and had said that the BJD government would face the music if the police arrested him. The incident had figured in the state Assembly the next day.

“This is a very serious allegation since it was levelled against the chief minister, who also heads the home department. The government should not take it lightly,” said Saluja demanding a statement from the government.

The Congress legislator said the school and mass education minister Nanda had allegedly played an instrumental role in the release of BJD MLA Jhina Hikaka, who was held hostage by the rebels for more than a month last year. The ruling BJD had also entered into a secret understanding with the Maoist-backed Chashi Mulia Adivasi Samiti during the last panchayat polls, he alleged.

“The government should come clear on the alleged Maoist link,” said Saluja. However, BJD MLA Debashish Nayak dismissed the allegation as “baseless”.