Archana Nag 'sextortion' case rocks Day-1 in Odisha assembly

BHUBANESWAR: The winter session of the assembly started on a stormy note on Thursday with the opposition BJP and Congress targeting chief minister Naveen Patnaik over the alleged links of some of his party leaders in the Archana Nag-led sensational honey-trap scandal.
In the post-lunch session, the opposition parties cornered the ruling party after BJD’s Dhenkanal MLA Sudhir Samal’s brother Gangadhar, who owns a car showroom here, deposed before the enforcement directorate (ED) and was grilled for several hours for suspicious financial transactions worth around Rs 35 lakh from his showroom account to that of Archana.

Congress legislature party leader Narasingha Mishra demanded Naveen’s resignation on the controversial honey-trap issue, which created ripples in the political circle following the alleged links of many influential people, including politicians in the racket.
“There have been allegations of the involvement of many MLAs, ministers and leaders of the ruling party in the sex scandal. But the chief minister is a mute spectator and has not reacted on the issue. The commissionerate police let off an accused, who was later arrested by the ED. This shows the government is trying to protect the culprits. The chief minister has no moral right to continue in the post and should quit,” Mishra said in the house.
Senior BJP MLA and opposition chief whip Mohan Majhi too came down heavily on Naveen and demanded his resignation. “The chief minister has been shielding his tainted leaders, who are having links in the honey-trap case. The police investigation is not moving in the right direction,” Majhi said.
Speaker Bikram Keshari Arukha reminded the members that the first day’s house business was mainly meant for the presentation of supplementary budget. No BJD legislator made any statement on the sextortion issue in the house.
While government chief whip Prasanta Kumar Muduli was unavailable for comment, other BJD legislators avoided questions on the issue.
Dhenkanal MLA Samal could not be reached for comment on his younger brother’s questioning by the ED. Since the assembly is in session, the party spokespersons too refused to comment. Gangadhar denied his link with the racket. “Archana’s husband Jagabandhu had booked a car, but cancelled it. We returned around Rs 35 lakh to the couple. There were no suspicious transactions between us,” Gangadhar said after coming out of the ED office following 8-hour grilling.
In a related development, the ED on Thursday started the process of seeking the remands of Archana and her husband Jagabandhu Chand, who were arrested by the city police last month.