Land scam: SC rejects bail extension plea of Tirupati Panigrahi

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Dec 18:

With the Supreme Court rejecting the appeal of Tirupati Panigrahi, head of Hi-Tech Group, for extension of his bail term today, the Odisha Crime Branch has decided to move the apex court to reject his bail petition.

The apex court had granted conditional bail to Panigrahi on February 21 this year after he deposited Rs 10 crore out of the Rs 63.5 crore he was asked to deposit by the court.

The court had asked him to deposit the rest amount within three months.

But as he failed to deposit the rest amount, the apex court today rejected his appeal for extension of his bail plea.

It may be mentioned that Panigrahi along with his two relatives were arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EoW) of the state Crime Branch on December 25, 2012 for allegedly reneging on the promise of providing residential plots to people after taking money from them in 2009.

The probe by the EOW of the Crime Branch had revealed that the Hi-tech Group owed more than Rs 315.96 crore to the investors.

The Group received money from 17,181 investors with promise of providing them with residential plots of which about 16,901 investors are yet to get the land till date.

The EOW, so far, has registered at least five cases against the Hi-Tech Group.