Odisha BJP protests tardy CBI probe into chit fund scam

Reported by Santosh Jagdev

Bhubaneswar, Mar 10:

Hundreds of BJP workers, led by the party’s Odisha unit secretary Bhrugu Baxipatra, today staged demonstration in front of CBI office here demanding that the ongoing investigation into the multi-thousand crore chit fund scam in the state be expedited.

The party leaders submitted a memorandum addressed to CBI chief Anil Kumar Sinha urging him to expedite the ongoing investigation to the superintendent of police (SP), CBI here.

In its memorandum, the party has said while it is heartening that the Supreme Court is monitoring the ongoing probe by the SIT into the various ponzi scheme/ chit fund companies that have fleeced lakhs of depositors of thousands of crores of rupees, there is rising discontent among the public over what is perceived as the CBI going slow in the investigation, raising questions over the effectiveness, intention and credibility of the apex agency. The inherent weakness in the CBI chargesheet have also led to the accused getting bail in both the AT and Seashore groups, it pointed out.

The memorandum also added that the dairies and other documents recovered from Subhankar Nayak, a city based land broker, in a raid by CBI are of great importance not only to the investigation process of the scam, but also for the public at large. It brings out the nexus between chit fund operators, politicians, bureaucrats and middlemen in very clear terms. It graphically mentions how these influential people received money to facilitate MoUs between the state government and Seashore group to operate its  dodgy business and services on behalf of the state government.

The people of Odisha have a right to know why the erring officials have not been investigated yet, it said.

“In the interest of transparency and accountability to public, we demand that the CBI should publish the details of the diary without further delay and expedite the investigation process as per revelation in the Subhankar’s dairy which will hopefully bring justice to the innocent depositors,” said Baxipatra.

“We have also sent two copies of memorandum to Special director of CBI, Kolkata zone and SIT SP here on this issue,” he added.