Congress demands CBI probe into Puri land scam

BHUBANESWAR: Even as the Government on Monday asked the Puri District Collector to submit a report on the land scam at Sipasarubali and Swargadwara, the Congress demanded action against the officials involved in the scam. “The Puri collector has been asked for a report on the twin scam in Puri and necessary action will be taken after going through the report,” Chief Secretary BK Patnaik told newsmen.Congress Chief Whip in the Assembly Prasad Harichandan sought an explanation from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik as to why the State Vigilance is sitting over the matter which has been referred to the anti-corruption wing by the CBI in August 2005.There is no doubt that the Government was not keen for a probe into the land scam as a Minister is involved. As the Vigilance Department functions under the Chief Minister he owes as explanation to the people, Harichandan said and demanded that the entire land scam in Puri district should be handed over to the CBI.Harichandan, who had raised the Puri land scam in the Assembly several times, demanded action against the Government officers involved in it. Since a list containing the names of the officials, including IAS and OAS officers,  involved in the scam has been submitted to Orissa High Court, it has made the job more easier for the Government, he said.Stating that 1397 acres of land were proposed to be acquired for the Special Tourism Area (STA) project at Sipasarubali (Sipasurubilla in revenue record), Harichandan said the Government has already made a civil deposit of Rs 5.60 crore for acquisition of 7775.35 acres land.Meanwhile, 1306 acres of land have been restored to the Government. The Government should immediately hand over the required land for the STA project, he added. He also demanded that all the land scams in the district should be taken up for investigation.