Balasore: A day after being arrested by Odisha Crime Branch, BJD leader Soumya Sankar ‘Raja’ Chakra, was on Friday remanded in judicial custody till March 19 by a court in Balasore.
Notably, Chakra was arrested on Thursday for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore scam connected to Gandhamardhan Loading Agency & Transporting Co-operative Society Ltd. The arrest came a day after the Orissa High Court rejected his pre-arrest bail petition.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch, which produced Chakra before the court, did not seek his remand for interrogation. Similarly, Chakra’s legal team also opted not to apply for his bail. His lawyer mentioned plans to apply for legal representation during any interrogation by the EOW in future.
Chakra was arrested following allegation that he exercised clout in the cooperative society established in 2006 and engaged in loading of iron ore from the mines in Keonjhar district, despite holding no official position and funds of the society were siphoned off at his behest by forging documents related to labour costs, employment provident fund deductions, money spent towards peripheral developmental activities, infrastructural expenses and payments made to the people affected in the mining area between 2017 and 2024.
The BJD leader has a transport and logistics business. According to an official press release, based on a detailed investigation, it was found that the loading agency had earned around Rs 185 crores from 2017-18 to March 2024.
The EOW is probing to ascertain whether Chakra received support from prominent figures while resorting to irregularities. It is being alleged that he was hand-in-glove with high-ranking officers of the district administration and police.
Further investigation is underway to ascertain the possible involvement of others in the multi-crore scam involving the BJD leader.