Odisha: Trouble Mounts for BJD MLA Prafulla Samal, ED Seizes Rs 10L, High-End Car From Son’s House

Bhubaneswar: Trouble seems to be mounting for Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA and former minister Prafulla Samal as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday seized a high-end car and cash worth Rs 10 lakh from the house son Prayas Kanti Samal.

The car and cash were seized from Prayas Kanti’s home at Palashpalli in state capital Bhubaneswar.

On Thursday, the central probe agency had conducted simultaneous raids at 10 places linked to Bhandaripokhari MLA Prafulla Samal -- six places in Bhadrak town and four places in Bhubaneswar.

Sources said the ED conducted raids after it received allegations of financial irregularities by Samal and his family in Bhadrak’s Institute of Engineering and Technology at Barapada. People in Bhadrak had staged protests over gross financial management in the college and illegal sale of the institute’s land.

It has been alleged that the minister and his son Prayas Kanti Samal misutilised the college funds to the tune of crores of rupees for their personal gains. They misused the funds for buying lands and flats in Bhubaneswar and other places.

After the raids, the former minister said the ED action was “vindictive.” He, however, did not elaborate the reason as to why the ED was vindictive.

Samal’s lawyer said he felt the raids were a conspiracy against his client.

“We have been trying to contact the ED officials since they started raids on places relating to my client. But they are neither seeing us nor commenting on anything. Prafulla Samal has many diseases and needs continuous treatment. The ED officials are harassing him."

The ED also conducted raids on the house of the former principal of Bhadrak Institute of Engineering College.