By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, June 23, 2017 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday raided the residence and office of former secretary of the Odisha Olympic Association (OOA) Ashirbad Behera in a land grabbing case.

The central investigating agency has registered a case against Behera and others under sections 120B and 420 of the IPC.

Earlier in the day, as per the direction of the Supreme Court on april 3 last, an eight-member team of the central investigating agency conducted raids at the sporting body’s office at Barabati Stadium in Cuttack and residence of Behera and is understood to have seized many important documents.

The Team also questioned several officials of the OOA. The land grab allegations came out in a report of the Accountant General (AG). The OOA got 22 acres of government land on lease for the construction of Barabati Stadium in 1949 but had encroached upon two acres adjacent to the vacant government land in the mid-70s.

This encroached land was further sub-leased by them where various business establishments developed earning revenue for the OOA. Barabati Palace and 23 shops were built on the land, said sources. In September 2016, a judicial committee headed by the Cuttack district judge submitted its report regarding the discrepancies in the land lease. The apex court had asked Behera to stay away from the secretary post during the investigation in March 2016.

Behera, who was the general secretary of the OOA since 1988, was embroiled in the controversy after Orissa High Court directed the crime branch to investigate into the affairs of the OOA on November 29, 2014. He challenged it in the Supreme Court and got an interim stay order on it on January 22, 2015.

But what went wrong was the selection of the private firm, M/s INCON Associates, which had Behera’s son and son-in-law as partners for construction of Barabati Palace.

The pitch for him was further queered when the accountant general of Odisha made an assessment of the accounts of Barabati Palace that had come up partially on government land encroached by OOA following direction of the Supreme Court.

The accountant general’s report indicated alleged fiscal impropriety by the OOA. The state government intensified the controversy by alleging in the apex court that the arrangement was so made with the sole purpose of benefiting M/s INCON Associates.

According to the tenancy agreement drawn up by the OOA on July 20, 1998, M/s INCON Associates was to pay monthly rent of Rs 17,000, while 50 per cent was to be adjusted towards the cost of construction.

In his report the accountant general made a comparison of actual rent charged versus fair rent from 1999 to 2014 and indicated that there was differential (apparent loss) of Rs 1,79,57,211.

Fair rent is the prescribed rent on which the state public works department hires private buildings on rent. During 1999 to 2014, the OOA had collected Rs 39,92,481 as rent as against Rs 2,19,49,692 fair rent.