ED’s money laundering case against Archana, hubby and two others

Bhubaneswar: A day after Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan hinted that a central agency has already started an inquiry into the Archana Nag-led sextortion racket and her alleged links with some BJD leaders, the enforcement directorate (ED) on Wednesday registered a money laundering case against her.
“We have registered a case against Archana, her husband Jagabandhu Chand and their two associates, Khageswar Patra and Sradhanjali Behera. We will interrogate them soon. We will probe the financial aspects of the case and their bank accounts, movable and immovable assets would be identified and confiscated,” an ED official said.
The development came a day before the Dhamnagar bypoll. On Tuesday, while addressing an election rally in Dhamnagar, Pradhan had alleged that some top BJD leaders have allegedly been providing patronage to Archana and her sextortion racket. BJD has been rubbishing the BJP’s allegations and dismissed the suspected links of any MLA or minister with Archana.
“The opposition deliberately raked up the Archana issue before the Dhamnagar byelection. After being rejected by the people, the opposition has been desperately trying to hog the limelight by politicising sensitive issues. They have no patience till the completion of the probe,” BJD MLA Amar Satpathy said.
Nag was arrested on the basis of a complaint filed by Ollywood producer Akshay Kumar Parija who alleged that she demanded Rs 3 crore from him. Nag even claimed that she possessed Parija’s objectionable videos and photos and threatened to make those public if he failed to pay her. The complaint was filed on September 30 at Naypalli police station.
Police said that Nag and her husband, who hailed from lower-middle class families, accumulated assets worth crores of rupees in the past four years.
As the probe by ED is said to have given jitters to some politicians for their alleged links with Archana, the commissionerate police said their simultaneous investigation would continue. “We have received some data from banks about the couple’s financial transactions. Those are being verified,” a senior police officer said.