Odisha chit fund scam; Builder Sagar Ray gets bail in HC

Reported by Santosh Jagdev
Bhubaneswar, May 12:

The Odisha High Court in Cuttack today granted conditional bail to realtor Sagar Ray, who has been languishing in the Jharpada jail in Bhubaneswar since being arrested by the CBI in connection with the mega chit fund scam on November 14 last year.

The court granted him bail on a bank deposit of Rs 5 crore and asked him to surrender his passport.

In its order granting bail to Ray, the court also asked him to cooperate with the CBI in its investigation.

Sagar Ray, one of the proprietors of Orison Properties Ltd, a city-based real estate firm, was arrested by the CBI for his alleged involvement in land deals of the Artha Tatwa (AT) Group and construction of apartments and duplex houses in the city.

The builder, along with Vineet Lalani, his partner, had taken huge amounts of money from the AT group and its Chief Pradeep Sethy for their real estate and construction business, sources said.

On September 5 last year, the CBI had recorded the statements of two builders, Ray and Lalani, after grilling them for several hours.

Sources said Orison Properties Ltd had constructed an apartment at Sundarpada in the city using AT Group money.