New Delhi: The monsoon session of the Odisha Legislative Assembly, which begins on September 1, is likely to be a tumultuous one as two senior ministers of the Naveen Patnaik government are embroiled in separate controversies.
Odisha’s Law Minister Pratap Kumar Jena will be probed in the murder of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Cuttack district, while State Cooperative Minister Ranendra Pratap Swain has been arrested following allegations of financial mismanagement and irregularities in the Cuttack Central Cooperative. There is criticism. Bank.
The minister’s brother Birendra Pratap Swain is the chairman of the Cuttack Central Co-operative Bank.
Last week, Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Salipur ordered a fresh probe against Mr Jena after hearing a petition regarding the deletion of the minister’s name in the charge sheet.
Former president of Cuttack’s expensive block and BJP leader Kulmani Baral and his aide Dibyasinh Baral were murdered in January this year while returning to their village.
Ramakant Baral, son of the deceased Kulmani Baral, had registered a case against 13 people including the minister in the expensive police station for their involvement in the murder.
He had moved the court alleging that the investigating officer had not examined the important witnesses and wrongly recorded the statement of the witness under Section 161 CrPC to protect the minister.
The BJP has already staged a protest against Mr. Jena demanding his sacking.
Similarly, farmers from different districts are protesting against the diversion of funds in Cuttack Central Cooperative Bank. He alleged that Mr. Swain’s continuance as cooperative minister became untenable due to his brother’s alleged involvement in financial irregularities in the bank.
