Naveen Patnaik's role in Saradha should be probed by CBI: BJP

He said when the demand for a CBI probe got shriller, Patnaik deliberately wrote a letter to Orissa High Court with a request to spare a sitting judge to probe it knowing fully well that a sitting judge cannot be engaged. Then he appointed a commission. When the matter went to the Supreme Court, the CM engaged a battery of highly paid lawyers to save leaders involved in the scam, though it was a case between chitfund companies and investors, Mohapatra said.

He asked the chief minister to clarify why he was opposing a CBI probe while states like Assam and Tripura recommended a probe by the central investigating agency into the scams in their states.

The BJP leader also lashed out at the BJD government for agreeing to allow a CBI probe in 37 Ponzi companies and leaving out seven chitfund firms facing serious charges.

The senior BJP leader also asked the politicians and bureaucrats involved in the scam to surrender voluntarily before the CBI started investigating. The chief minister should ask the culprits to surrender before they are caught, he said.