5 BJD MPs used private plane of tainted mining contractor: BJP

BHUBANESWAR: Five ruling BJD MPs had used the private plane of a "tainted" mining contractor, Opposition BJP today alleged and demanded clarification from Odisha Government over the issue.

Raising the issue during zero hour in the Odisha Legislative Assembly, BJP MLA Pradeep Purohit alleged that the five MPs used the private plane of a mining company to travel to Delhi from Bhubaneswar.

The five are Pinaki Mishra, Ramchandra Hansda, Siddhant Mohapatra, Loknath Swain, and Hemendra Singh.

The mining contractor's role in the violation of mining rules was being investigated by the state vigilance, he said, claiming that Odisha had sustained a loss of about Rs 1,000 crore due to illegal activities of the tainted company.

"I demand a statement from the state government on the matter and the state vigilance should also probe into the relation between the five BJD MPs and the mining contractor," Purohit said.

The MPs should also come under the purview of the vigilance probe for their alleged links with the contractor, he added.

However, Swain denied the allegations and claimed that he was not aware that he had travelled in the plane of a private mining contractor to visit Delhi.