By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, January 14, 2017 : Vigilance sleuths on Saturday raided a gas agency office in Talcher town in Angul district owned by elder brother of Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister and the BJP leader, Dharmendra Pradhan.

The BJP has termed the raid as political vendetta and cried foul.

Two teams of Cuttack Vigilance Cell and Angul Vigilance Cell conducted the raid at ‘Pradhan’s Gas Service’ here owned by Soumendra Pradhan, brother of the minister, sources said.

Raids were also carried out at various petrol pumps and gas depots in Puri, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Khordha, Balasore, Bhadrak, Sambalpur, Bargarh, Jharsuguda, Koraput, Dhenkanal, Nabarangpur and Ganjam.

A joint team of officials of the Vigilance and Supplies department examined the quality and quantity of oil at the petrol pumps.

“The raids were conducted on the basis of allegations of adulteration,” said R P Sharma, Vigilance Director.