CBI to decide upon Saradha FIRs by May end

The official also said that agency has started gathering evidence and documents related to case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is gearing up to register fresh first information reports in the Saradha scam by the end of this month.

The agency will decid eupon the number of cases that need to be registered in the scam based on the various aspects and the larger conspiracy angle of the case in the next 15 days.

CBI is in the process of conducting an internal meeting of its senior officers and the members of the special investigation team which was formed yesterday to decide upon its "future course of action" and strategy to take the probe forward,senior official said.

The official also said that the agency has started gathering the evidence anddocuments related to the case.

The investigative agency is coordinating withthe state police on the progress made in the probe thus far. Whileinvestigating the role of the regulatory bodies like the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the agency will also seek information gathered on the modus operandi of Saradha Realty by these bodies.

Sebi had submitted a report to the Supreme Court onhow Saradha on pretext of land developers, construction of flats, running toursand travels, travel packages and resorts has collected around Rs.2,459 croresover a period of 5 years.On directions of the apex court CBI had set up an SIT to look into the Rs 10,000 crore chit-fund scam yesterday.

The agency hasgot together its officials from Assam, Odisha, West Bengal to form the specialinvestigation team to probe the Saradha scam. The investigations so far indicate that the money collected from the public was spread over 160 companies and spent away orsiphoned off and no major revenue was generated by any group company.

TheSupreme Court in its order said that "a huge gap between the amount collectedand the investments made in real estate itself calls for effectiveinvestigation as to the trail of money collected by the group of companies.

"The Saradha scam had come to light in April 2013. Saradha Reality India Ltd. and its other 3 group companies collected money fromthe open market, reaching out to the general public by employing huge number ofagents, in form of Investment under different Schemes viz., Fixed Deposits,Monthly Investment Scheme, Recurring Deposits.