Chit fund scam: BJD MLA appears in CBI office

BJD MLA from Banki and the party's former chief whip Pravat Tripathy today appeared at the office of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) here in connection with his alleged links with the AT Group, one of the key players in the multi-million rupees chit fund scam.

The CBI is believed to have interrogated Tripathy mainly in connection with an audio CD, where the MLA is purportedly speaking to AT Group chief Pradeep Sethy seeking sponsorship for a festival in his constituency. Earlier, Tripathy had denied that the audio CD contained his voice.

The CBI which is probing the chit fund scam, on last Sunday, interrogated Ashis Sahoo, a close associate of Tripathy. Another confidante of the BJD leader, Ranjan Das, is now in CBI custody. On Monday, the BJD MLA had applied for anticipatory bail in the Odisha High Court.

The central agency is understood to have seized some key documents during raids at Tripathy’s houses at Banki and Kaligali, Cuttack on August 16. The sleuths had also searched the house of Subash Padhi, a BJD leader and associate of Tripathy, in Banki.

Tripathy’s interrogation has compounded the problem for BJD as many leaders of the ruling party have either been already hauled up or put under scanner by the central investigators. CBI had earlier quizzed Pranab Balbantray, BJD MLA and son of senior party leader Kalpataru Das, in connection with a land deal with AT Group. It had also raided the houses of BJD MP, Ramachandra Hansda and former BJD MLA, Subarna Nayak, for their alleged links with the scam-tainted chit fund firm, Nabadiganta. Meanwhile, the BJD said that Tripathy’s interrogation by the CBI will not undermine the image of the party or its supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

“The CBI investigation into the chit fund scam is on and the law will take its course. The Banki MLA would be responsible for his act,” BJD spokesperson Amar Satpathy said.