Bhubaneswar, September 21: The President of the BJD, Naveen Patnaik, took the decision on Thursday to expel legislator Soumya Ranjan Patnaik from the party due to allegations of engaging in activities against the interests of the people.

The expulsion comes in the wake of an FIR filed by a former employee of Sambad Newspaper, which has led to a case being registered under sections 506/467/468/471/420/120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) by the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of Odisha. The press release issued by the BJD states that several former employees of Sambad Newspaper have leveled similar accusations with the EOW Odisha. These allegations revolve around a severe case of organized bank fraud, wherein loans worth crores of Rupees were purportedly obtained in the names of over 300 Sambad employees through fraudulent means and forged documents.

Prior to this expulsion, Patnaik had already been removed from his position as the Vice-President of the BJD. He had openly criticized VK Pandian, the 5T Secretary, through his editorials and had alleged that Pandian had spent substantial sums during his recent visits to 30 districts within the state.

The EOW had recently conducted a raid on Sambad's office premises as part of their investigation into the alleged loan scam. They had also interrogated numerous employees of the media organization in connection with the fraudulent activities.

In addition to Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, the BJD also expelled Sudhansu Sekhar Parida, the MLA from Remuna, from the party. The release states that Sudhansu Sekhar Parida, during his tenure as the Managing Partner of M/s Nigamananda Associates in Balasore, in collusion with others, misappropriated government subsidies meant for farmers, totaling more than Rs 3 crores, over the period spanning from 2017-18 to 2019-20. This matter is currently under investigation by the State Vigilance on the orders of the Lokayukta.

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