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Kendrapara/ Bhubaneswar: At a time when speculations are rife over his alleged political links, arrested gangster Sayed Usman Ali alias Tito on Monday stated that 'he is being framed.'
Tito made such startling revelations while he was being produced before the Kendrapara SJDM court after the end of his 3-day remand today.
"Without doing anything, cases are being registered against me. I am being harassed. I am innocent and being framed," said Tito to media persons when he was coming out of the Kendrapara SJDM court.
As it was for the first time that Tito made such statements publicly after his arrest following an encounter last month, it has now added fuel to the ongoing speculations over the gangster's political connections.
However, Tito refrained from speaking anything when asked about his political links.
It is pertinent to mention here that Tito was successful in creating his own business empire through tender fixing, extortion and other illegal means in the last two decades since 1998.
Question remains how Odisha police officials could not get a whiff of Tito's operation. If they were aware why action was not taken against him then and why the cops had to act tough against Tito now?
Whether such action is politically motivated and whether the investigation by Crime Branch's special task force (STF) will reveal the truth, remain to be seen.
Meanwhile, Tito's statements have already created a political flutter with major parties accusing their opponents of having nexus with the gangster.
"Earlier, everything was going on smoothly during BJD regime and everybody turned a blind eye. As all is not well within now, it could be the fallout of such differences," said BJP leader, Golak Mohapatra.
BJD spokesperson, Pratap Deb on the other hand stated that "As investigation is on, it would not be appropriate to comment on it now. Once the probe is over, the truth will come out."
Sources said the STF is likely to seek further remand of Tito soon over his inter-state criminal links and other benami properties. Besides, it is alleged that the gangster took an extortion of Rs 70 lakh from a contractor for a project of the Water Resources Department in Aul block which was billed at Rs 7 crore.
