Odisha chit fund scam: Bail plea of ex-BJD MLA rejected

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Jul 15:

The Khordha District and Sessions court today rejected the bail plea of Subarna Nayak, former BJD MLA from Keonjhar, who has been charge sheeted by the CBI in the Nabadiganta Financial Services case as part of its ongoing investigation into the Odisha chit fund scam.

Earlier on July 2, the special chief judicial magistrate (CJM) had rejected Naik’s bail plea.

Naik was arrested by the CBI on charges of criminal conspiracy in the multi-crore chit fund scam in the state. He was one of the directors of Nabadiganta Capital Services, a chit fund company which has been accused of duping thousands of investors in the state.

The CBI has already filed a preliminary charge sheet against him and five others in the case.

However, the Odisha High Court has on July 13 granted conditional bail to Pradip Patnaik, a director of the Nabadiganta Financial Services.

The CBI had arrested Pradip Patnaik, Anjan Kumar Baliarsingh, chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) and another director of the company, Kartikeya Parida on October 26, 2014.

According to allegations, the company had collected about Rs 15 crore through its branches located in undivided Puri and Cuttack districts between 2011 and 2013. Though it had refunded Rs 7.30 crore to some depositors, the rest amount has not been returned.

Later Ramachandra Hansda, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP from Mayurbhanj, Subarna Naik ex-BJD MLA from Keonjhar and Hitesh Bagarti, former Nuapada MLA of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were arrested by the CBI for their alleged involvement in the affairs of the chit fund company and are presently lodged in jail.