Suryap

Bhubaneswar: Claiming that the fixing of ‘daru’ (holy log) selection during the 2015 Nabakalebara festival has hurt religious sentiments of crores of Odias, the Odisha Civil Society today demanded a CBI probe into the whole episode.

As ruling party leaders and bureaucrats are involved in such discrepancies, attempts are being made to suppress the matter, the civil society body alleged.

“Therefore, we demand a probe by the central investigating agency into the alleged irregularities to bring out the truth. Apart from this, the Brahma Parivartan fiasco probe report should also be made public,” said convener of the Odisha Civil Society, Pradeep Pradhan.

Former Law minister Arun Sahoo, BJD MP Achyuta Samanta and Sri Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) chief administrator Suresh Mohapatra should be arrested for their alleged complicity in the matter, Pradhan demanded.

He also asked for a CBI probe into the missing Ratna Bhandar controversy as the commission set up by the State government is yet to submit its report.

It is pertinent to mention that Chief Maharana (carpenter) of Debadalan chariot of Devi Subhadra who was in-charge of construction of new idols of the holy Trinity during the Nabakalebara ceremony had blamed the daitapati servitors for the brahma paribartan fiasco and alleged that there were massive irregularities in ‘daru’ selection.

Earlier, Opposition has also demanded CBI probe into the incident accusing the then Law Minister of being involved in the Brahma Paribartan fiasco.

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