A day after Odisha Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare Minister Sanjay Dasburma submitted documents related to vehicles owned by him to the CBI, the ruling BJD today termed the agency's notice to him on April 4 in chitfund scam as "politically motivated".
Senior Congress leader Lalatendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra last month alleged Dasburma had received a MUV from Pradip Sethi, the chief of Artha Tatwa Group, which is under the CBI scanner. Sethi was already put behind bars.
BJD spokesman Pratap Keshari Deb said, "Sethi has recorded statement before CBI about a year ago. Why the investigating agency remained silent for so long and issued notice to the Minister after a Congress leader made the allegation."
Deb also claimed that the CBI has already submitted chargesheet in connection with 'Artha Tatwa' Group in which there was no mention of Dasburma's name.
"Therefore, we smell a political conspiracy behind the CBI's notice to the Minister," Deb said, adding a new political equation seemed to have emerged in Odisha as Congress and BJP have joined hands in this case.
Dasburma, through his representative Gouranga Sahoo, submitted the documents at the office of the CBI SP here yesterday in response to a notice issued on April 4.
The minister was in Koraput for some official work so he gave a forwarding letter to the CBI deputing Sahoo to submit papers on his behalf.
Demanding his resignation, General Secretary of the Odisha unit of BJP Prithviraj Harichandan said, "The Minister should immediately resign on moral grounds or else the Chief Minister should ask him to resign after CBI issued a notice to him in the chitfund scam."
While the Minister was not available for comments, PTI is in possession of his forwarding letter to the CBI and the notice served to him under section 91 of CrPC.
Meanwhile, activists staged a demonstration in front of the CBI SP office here today demanding interrogation of Dasburma.
The CBI has been probing the scam in Odisha and is inquiring operations of 44 chitfund firms in the state.
