Cuttack: The Orissa High Court on Friday withdrew the interim protection from arrest to BJP’s vice-president Baijayant Panda and his wife Jagi Mangat Panda, who is OTV’s managing director, in connection with the Sarua land scam.
The High Court also rejected their petition to quash the FIR registered in connection with the land scam.
The Court had concluded the hearing of the petition on the case and reserved its judgment on November 13. It had extended the interim protection from arrest granted by it to Baijayant and Jagi till pronouncement of the judgment.
The Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of Crime Branch, which is investigating the land scam, has found that Odisha InfraTech Pvt Ltd, an associate company of OTV, purchased land belonging to Scheduled Caste persons in Sarua of Khurda district by forgery and other methods between June, 2010 and June, 2013.