Bhubaneswar, Nov 6 (PTI) BJP today termed as "eye-wash" the ongoing probe by police into the multi-crore mining scam in Orissa and demanded CBI enquiry into the matter, which it alleged, could not have taken place without the patronage of the government.

"The entire mining scam should be probed by CBI and if Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his government are innocent they should welcome it instead of resisting," senior BJP leader Balbir Punj, who led a team to Keonjhar district to survey "illegal" mining, told reporters here.

Claiming that illegal mining was taking place in forest land and outside leased areas, he said "a scandal of this magnitude cannot take place without the protection and patronage of the government and blessings of big shots".