ED to quiz Naveen Patnaik's MLA in college land irregularities case

The Enforcement Directorate has summoned senior Biju Janata Dal MLA and former Odisha Minister Prafulla Samal and his son over an alleged money laundering case, sources said on Saturday.

The probe agency has issued summons to Samal and his son Prayaskanti in connection with Barapada Engineering College land irregularities, they added.

The father-son duo has been asked to report before the ED with all related documents.

The ED's action comes two days after raids were conducted at different places linked to Samal.

"The ED has carried out search operations at 10 locations in Bhadrak and Bhubaneswar cities of Odisha on 15.02.2024 under the provisions of PMLA, 2002 belonging to Prayaskanti Samal (ex-president), Manoj Kumar Goswami (secretary) and others of Barapada School of Engineering and Technology society in the matter of misappropriation of society money by forgery and cheating. During the search operations, various incriminating documents, digital devices, Cash of Rs. 9 Lakhs, undated cheques, land agreements and a Toyota Fortuner Car worth Rs. 40 lakhs approx were recovered and seized," the ED posted on X on Saturday.

Sources said the vehicle, however, is registered in the name of Trishna Skyscraper Limited, a construction company.

The raids were conducted at six places in Bhadrak and four in Bhubaneswar on Thursday, in connection with alleged financial irregularities to the tune of Rs 20 crore in Bhadrak Institute of Engineering and Technology at Barapada.

Prayaskanti, who is the president of BIET, is accused of swindling the fees paid by students and investing the money to buy properties worth crores of rupees in Bhubaneswar and other places.

Meanwhile, some senior BJD leaders, including the party's Bhadrak district in-charge Sanjay Das Burma, Bhadrak MP Manjulata Manda and others met Samal at his residence in Bhdark and discussed the matter.

Reacting to ED's action, Bhandaripokhari BJD MLA Samal said the raids were nothing but a malicious act.

"The raids are a conspiracy against my client. We are trying to contact ED officials but they are neither seeing us nor issuing any statement on the raid. Prafulla Samal has been keeping unwell and needs continuous treatment. The ED officials are harassing him," Samal's lawyer said.