Air Odisha promoter served notice to appear before police

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Mar 27:

Local police here today served notice to a promoter of Air Odisha Aviation Pvt Ltd to appear before it on Wednesday in connection with a complaint filed by an investor of fraud.

The Khandagiri police today served notice to Santosh Pani, founder of Air Odisha Aviation Pvt Ltd to appear before it for questioning based on a complaint by an investor Sandeep Ray who had alleged that the company wasn’t refunding his invested amount.

The complainant Sandeep Ray, who is the son of hotelier and Rourkela BJP MLA Dilip Ray, had filed a complaint with Khandagiri police here on Saturday night that the chartered carrier was noncommittal on refund of his investment.

“I have invested Rs 80 lakh in Air Odisha Aviation Pvt Ltd for which I was promised 40% stake in the carrier. I have received Rs 40 lakh of the invested amount. Now, I want my rest of the investment back. The authorities have resorted to dilly-dallying tactics since last three months. I had entered into an agreement in January, 2015,” Sandeep Ray had told media.

As per the agreement reached between us, I was supposed to get the stakes which didn’t materialise as he delayed the formalities in the garb of DGCA approval etc. As I was in need of money, I wanted to withdraw the investment. After rounds of negotiations, the carrier transferred Rs 40 lakh to my account and issued four cheques of Rs 40 lakh. When I approached a bank to encash it, the bankers told me that the cheques are invalid as the signatory was not authorised to sign on it following which I lodged a complaint, he had said.

On the other hand, the founder of the home-grown carrier Captain Santosh Pani had rubbished the the allegations of cheating.

Based on the complaint, the Khandagiri police had asked both the parties to produce documents in support of their claims.