Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today appointed senior BJD leader and former minister Raghunath Mohanty as the Chairman of Odisha Lift Irrigation Corporation (OLIC).

In addition to that Mohanty has been accorded the rank of a Cabinet Minister.

Earlier in March this year, BJD president Naveen Patnaik had appointed Mohanty as the party’s vice-president and observer for Dhenkanal district.

The five-time MLA from Basta constituency in Balasore district Mohanty was removed from the post and suspended from the BJD in March 2013 after he was arrested in a dowry torture case slapped by his daughter-in-law Barsa Swony Choudhury.

The former minister returned to active politics after he met the BJD supremo at his residence in June, last year, a year after his son and estranged daughter-in-law announced their reunion.