Former union minister accuses BJD of paying Maoist leader

BHUBANESHWAR: A former union minister belonged to Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal accused the state’s Naveen Patnaik government of paying Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda money on several occasions to ensure political gains in regions affected by left-wing extremism.

Braja Kishore Tripathy, who was a BJD representative in Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s coalition government, made the allegation at a press conference in New Delhi. Tripathy now leads the Samata Kranti Dal, a state-level party.

Once Odisha's most-wanted, Panda was arrested in July last year from a house in Berhampur where, disowned by CPI(Maoist), he had been hiding for a month. The former Maoist leader is accused of killing 25 security personnel and 34 civilians, and is currently in jail.

Tripathy claimed that the BJD transferred Rs 45 lakh to Panda’s bank account. This transaction took place during the 2014 general and assembly elections that took place simultaneously in the state, he said. Tripathi, citing purported cheque numbers, claimed that Panda transferred the money to relatives of two BJD politicians and said he had written to the Prime Minister, seeking an investigation into these transactions.

BJD spokesmen have denied the allegations, claiming that the party had worked hard to bring down Maoist problems in the state. Panda’s wife, Subhashree or Mili Panda, also rubbished the allegation. “A man who abandoned family, and career, and worldly comforts for a cause he believed is hardly likely to have a bank account,” she told ET.