Bhubaneswar: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed a money laundering case against BJD leader Soumya Sankar Chakra alias Raja to examine allegations of financial irregularities, involving crores of rupees in his transport, mining, and liquor businesses.
On Thursday, the ED conducted raids in Keonjhar and Bhubaneswar, including his residence and offices.
The Economic Offences Wing of the Odisha Police is also investigating similar charges of financial misconduct in Chakra’s businesses across the state. The state vice-president of Biju Yuva Janata Dal was arrested in March over his alleged links with Gandhamardan Loading Agency and Transporting Cooperative Society Ltd, which is reportedly involved in a scam of Rs 150 crore.
He allegedly wielded significant influence over operations of Gandhamardan society despite holding no official position and siphoned off crores of rupees by forging records, manipulating work orders, and inflating or faking expenses for periphery development, fuel, and transport.
The ED discovered that over 70 vehicles, primarily with registration numbers ending in ’21’ and owned by Chakra and his benami entities, were used for illegal mining and transportation. Additionally, the federal probe agency is probing the diversion of illicit funds into Chakra’s liquor business, which is licensed under his wife, Rupali Pattanaik. During searches, the agency found that while the liquor shop’s license was in Pattanaik’s name, payments for liquor sales were routed to accounts held by others.
The ED filed the case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) through its Delhi headquarters, bypassing the Bhubaneswar zonal unit, due to the case’s sensitivity and potential involvement of influential and politically connected individuals in Odisha, the PTI reported quoting sources.