Congress Demands CBI Probe Into ‘Daru’ Fixing

Bhubaneswar: The Congress on Friday demanded a CBI probe into the fixing in the selection of Daru (tree trunk) for the Lords of Shri Jagannath Temple in Puri during Nabakalebara festival in 2016.

“It has been proved that there was fixing in the selection of Daru for the Lords, which has deeply hurt the sentiments of the people and the devotees of Lord Jagannath across the country and the world. Since some top leaders including a former minister of the ruling BJD and officials of the then district administration are involved in the fixing, the state government must give the order for a CBI probe into the incident without delay,” senior Congress leader and Opposition chief whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati told mediapersons here.
Asked to comment on the issue, leader of the BJP legislature party, K.V. Singhdeo told the media to find out how many reports of the judicial investigations and other investigations had been ordered by the state government have been tabled in the State Assembly.

On the other hand, Law minister Pratap Jena said these are all political statements to give an impression to the people that the BJD is involved in the matter. “Had the government remained silent over the matter, it would not have ordered an investigation. The government is ready to take action against those involved in the incident,” he added.