BJP Slams Odisha Govt Over Archana’s Honeytrap Racket & ZP Member Death, Declares Statewide Stir For Fair Probe

Bhubaneswar: Accusing the BJD government of shielding high-profile people involved in Dharmendra Sahoo death and Archana Nag’s honeytrap racket, Odisha BJP on Wednesday threatened to launch a statewide agitation demanding inclusion of ruling party leaders within the purview of probe in both the cases.

Coming down heavily on the Naveen Patnaik government for alleged ‘police inaction’ in both the cases, BJP state general secretary Lekhashree Samantsinghar alleged that the ruling BJD has been encouraging corruption, crime, sex scandals and gross misuse of tax-payers’ money during 22 years of its rule.

Addressing a press meet in Bhubaneswar, the BJP leader said police should bring School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash within the purview of investigation in BJD Zilla Parishad member Dharmendra Sahoo death case as the deceased had named him in a video that has gone viral.

Claiming that Sahoo before committing suicide had spoken to a friend about the Minister, she alleged that in the viral video also he had named the Minister, his associate and a woman. She sought to know as to why the police is yet to initiate action against these three.

The BJP leader further alleged that there were huge money transactions between Sahoo and Samir Dash through different modes including electronic transfer, while the woman named by the deceased had collected huge amount of money from him after blackmailing him by using a video.

Even the Minister had collected huge money from Sahoo, Samantsinghar alleged and said the police must probe into these money transactions to ascertain the role of Samir Dash in the death of the zilla parishad member from Nimapada.

Minister Samir Ranjan Dash was not immediately available for comment.

The Chief Minister and police must answer as to why proper investigation is not being conducted in the case despite presence of ample evidence, she said and claimed that all these show there is an attempt to shield the accused.

Similarly, around a dozen Ministers and some 30 BJD MLAs were reportedly visiting lady blackmailer Archana Nag’s house where various deals were being finalised and huge money transactions were done, the senior BJP leader alleged.

It is for the police to conduct a thorough probe and ascertain as to who made Archana so powerful and influential, but no concrete step has so far been taken to go to the bottom of the honeytrap racket, she claimed.

“BJP has already demanded a CBI probe into both the cases, but the state government is not ready as it wants to protect those involved,” she claimed.

Therefore, BJP has decided to launch a state-wide agitation by holding rallies, demonstrations and dharnas in all the 58 sub-divisions in the state in the next seven days to press for fair probe into Sahoo death and Archana’s blackmailing racket to expose all those involved in both the cases, the BJP leader added.