Chit fund scam: CBI raids houses of 3 Odisha politicians

Odisha Sun Times Bureau,
Bhubaneswar, July 31:

At least three Odisha politicians, including two from the ruling Biju Janata Dal, are among those being raided by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the multi-thousand crore chit fund scam in the state today.

The three politicians are ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP from Mayurbhanj Ramachandra Hansda, former BJD MLA from Keonjhar Subarna Nayak and former BJP MLA from Khariar Hitesh Bagarti, sources in the CBI said.

Among the places raided today were Ramchandra Hansda’s houses in Bhubaneswar and Rairangpur, Subarna Naik’s residence in Govindpur village in Keonjhar district and Hitesh Bagarti’s house at Khariar.

Both Hansda and Naik, however, have denied any knowledge about the raid.

There have been enough indications about the involvement of politicians in the chit fund scam. But the state Crime Branch, which was probing the case before the CBI took over the investigation as per a Supreme Court order, had steadfastly refused to question, let alone raid, any of them.

The role of several other politicians, many of them from the ruling party, in facilitating the scam may come under the scanner during the probe, sources said.

Among the other premises raided by the CBI in the state capital today was Nabadiganta Capital Services Limited (NCSL), a chit fund company, operating at plot no- N3-18 in Nayapalli area here, sources said.

the sources also revealed that the team is interrogating one of the Directors of NCSL, Pradeep Kumar Pattnaik and has seized several important documents which it said would help them during investigation. The investigation is continuing till the last reports came in.

Registered in 2011, NCSL has allegedly duped thousands of gullible investors by collecting crores of rupees from them on the promise of hefty returns. The company is run by Pattnaik along with other five active directors, sources added.