Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik
An FIR was registered on Friday against Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and four senior BJD leaders for allegedly flying over Chilika Lake, days after a similar complaint was lodged against former Kendrapara MP Baijayant Panda. Panda had quit the BJD in May after a feud with party members and the chief minister.
The helicopter used by him was seized on Monday after an FIR was registered over the alleged attempt to land an aircraft on Chilika Lake on Saturday, when Panda was flying in a chopper across a stretch of coastal Odisha up to Konark.
The police also sealed the hangar where the R-44 helicopter, operated by Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys Ltd (IMFA), was kept.
The FIR against Panda, filed by an official of the Chilika Development Authority, said the chopper attempted to land on Chilika, which is a “no-flying eco-sensitive zone”.
In response, Panda had tweeted, “Lake not on the list of no fly zones. Also, boss (Naveen Patnaik) flew there (earlier)”.
On Friday, convener of an advocacy group Jansachetana Nagarika Mancha, Priyadarshan Pattnaik, lodged the FIR against the CM at Arakhuda Marine Police Station, where the probe against Panda is ongoing. The FIR also named Revenue Minister Maheswar Mohanty, Agriculture Minister Pradeep Maharathy, Puri MP Pinaki Mishra and MLA Sanjay Das Burma.
“Law is the same for everybody. If Panda has committed a mistake by flying his chopper over Chilika, so has the CM and the state government,” the complainant said. BJD spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Pratap Keshari Deb called the FIR “political gimmickery and mischief”.