Bhubaneswar, March 22: Civil society activists today staged a demonstration in front of the office of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) alleging that the ongoing probe Ponzi scam had slowed down due to a nexus between the BJD and the BJP at the Centre.
As many as 28 groups of activists took part in the demonstration today and demanded that the probe be carried out at the earliest.
"It is evident that the CBI's investigation is taking place at snail's pace due to a secret deal between the BJD and the BJP. As a number of BJD leaders are involved in the scam, the ruling party has struck a deal with the central leadership. The BJP, in return, is getting the BJD's support in Parliament," said Pradeep Pradhan, an activist spearheading the demonstration. He also demanded that the probe be expedited and political people involved in the scam be arrested.
The CBI had taken over the probe and started investigation against 44 major Ponzi firms in May 2014 after a Supreme Court ruling. However, several activists and depositors have been alleging that central agency was going slow in probing the scam.
The demonstrators also demanded that the CBI interrogate food supplies and consumer welfare minister Sanjay Das Burma. A few days ago, senior Congress leader Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra, aka Lulu, had accused food supplies Das Burma of receiving two SUVs as gift from Artha Tatwa chief Pradeep Sethy.
The BJD has denied the allegations. "The central agency has not found any links of the minister with any Ponzi firm. We should not doubt the investigation of the CBI," said BJD spokesperson Pratap Jena.
Supporters of Das Burma today took out a massive motorcycle rally from Brahmagiri. Around 1,000 supporters of the minister went to the office of the director-general of police at Cuttack through Bhubaneswar. The rally comes after the Brahmagiri bandh, which was observed on Monday by the supporters of Lulu demanding the arrest of Das Burma.
Later, supporters of the minister submitted a memorandum to the DGP accusing Lulu of giving misleading information to the media against Das Burma.
