Bhubaneswar: In a significant development in the job fraud case, three complainants withdrew their complaints against Berhampur MP and senior BJP leader Pradeep Panigrahi on Wednesday.
The complainants admitted before the Berhampur JMFC Court that Panigrahi had not taken any money from them.
According to Panigrahi’s lawyer, Deepak Patnaik, the complainants alleged that they were coerced by a senior police official and BJD leaders into filing complaints against Panigrahi.
“Three complainants appeared before the court today and confirmed that they had no financial dealings with Pradeep Panigrahi. One of them explicitly stated that police and certain BJD leaders pressured him to lodge the complaint,” said Patnaik.
In response, Panigrahi refrained from commenting on the matter, citing its sub-judice status. “I was present during the trial, fulfilling my responsibility. As the matter is under judicial consideration, it is inappropriate for me to make any statements,” he said.
Earlier, two other complainants, Laxmidhar Nayak and Prabhat Kumar Nayak, testified in court that they were similarly pressured by district administration officials and BJD leaders to register complaints against Panigrahi at the Golanthara police station. Both had also denied any financial transactions with him.
Panigrahi’s lawyer had revealed this during the trial on December 10, calling into question the legitimacy of the accusations.
A total of five persons had lodged complaints against Panigrahi, accusing him of taking money from them to provide jobs in a reputed automobile company.
