Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Aug 31:

The CBI is all set to raid the houses of a number of political leaders and high-profile persons in connection with the Odisha chit fund scam soon.

According to reliable sources, the list of names and the blueprint for the raids have been prepared during the last visit of the head of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and joint director, CBI Rajeev Singh. This has been done on the basis of information collated from seized documents, tip-offs from outside sources and interrogation of the accused persons.

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The sources said the Central intelligence officials have gathered conclusive evidence on the involvement of political leaders, journalists, builders, mines owners, hoteliers, Ollywood and Odia album producers during the interrogation of Artha Tatwa(AT) Group chief Pradip Sethi, directors Sambit Khuntia, Jyoti Prakash Jaiprakash and accountant Srikrushna Padhi.

Besides, they have also collected vital information during a raid on the house of a stock broker in Mumbai who had assisted the AT Group chief obtain license to invest money in the stock market, the sources added.

At least three Odisha ministers, two MLAs, two former ministers and their sons are now under the scanner for their involvement with chit fund business. Some senior state officials, media house owners and journalists have also come under the ring of suspicion.

After conducting the planned raids on the shortlisted individuals, the CBI would most likely request the court not to allow these persons to leave the state until its investigation is completed, the sources said, adding, the SIT chief Rajeev Singh during his stay in Bhubaneswar has finalised the strategies and the blueprint for further raids on certain high profile people as well as other chit fund companies.