It was a huge blow to the newly formed political outfit Odisha Jana Morcha (OJM) as the bail plea of its secretary general Jagneswar Babu was rejected. He was arrested following the fraud and corruption cases were registered against him by the vigilance department.

The additional special judge (vigilance) rejected his bail plea, giving no relief to him. Meanwhile, party president Pyari Mohaptra feared that he could be arrested at any time for his alleged nexus with Maoists.

Jagneswar Babu was arrested on May 1 by the vigilance on charges of financial irregularities. The vigilance alleged that around Rs 36.18 crore was given to Bijayananda Co-operative Sugar Mills in Balangir as loan without following the bank guidelines when Jagneswar Babu was the president of the Odisha State Cooperative Bank (OSCB).

He had illegally sanctioned the loan without adequate security, the sleuths alleged.