Pyari grilled over Seashore link

BJD MLA Pravat Biswal also quizzed by CBI

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today quizzed Rajya Sabha MP and former BJD leader, Pyari Mohan Mohapatra and sitting BJD MLA, Prabhat Biswal, regarding their involvement in approval of government contracts in favour of Seashore Group, a chit fund firm, accused of duping thousands of depositors to the tune of about Rs 2,000 crore.

Mohapatra's house was raided by CBI few days back and he was also questioned by Enforcement Directorate (ED) earlier.

Biswal was summoned to the CBI office here for the first time.

Mohapatra was interrogated for nearly four hours and was confronted with arrested head of Seashore Group, Prashant Dash on the company's investments and its business deals with the Odisha government.

Established in 2005-06, the group was engaged in raising money from the public through Ponzi schemes and investing it in real estate, media and gold trading business. It had signed several agreements with the state government for developing tourism spots, maintaining hospitals and establishing a corn processing unit.

It ceased its operation last year after the state police arrested Dash over allegations of not returning money to the public as promised.

CBI believes Mohapatra, a powerful leader of BJD and advisor to chief minister Naveen Patnaik till May 2012, played a key role in approving projects in favour of the firm. On Tuesday, it had raided 18 places including houses of Mohapatra in Bhubaneswar and Delhi to find out his links with the firm.

"CBI confronted me with Prasant Dash, an accused, but I cannot divulge more details as it is likely to affect the probe process," Mohapatra said after the interrogation.

Earlier, he had said that the chit fund probe might lead to arrest of at least one third of 117 MLAs of BJD. Soon after his interrogation, Cuttack-Choudwar MLA from ruling party Prabhat Biswal appeared before the CBI sleuths in connection with Seashore business.

The chit fund firm had some offices in Jagatpur industrial area in Cuttack-Choudwar assembly constituency and had also signed agreement to develop Mahanadi river front in Cuttack to attract tourists.

In a separate development, the Khurdha sessions court today deferred bail hearing plea of arrested BJD MLA from Banki, Pravat Tripathy to November 27 as the hearing was incomplete today. Tripathy was arrested on October 31 this year, after CBI established his links with Artha Tatwa (AT) Group, another chit fund company, from a recorded telephonic conversation.

The CBI has taken into custody some more BJD politicians, media company promoters, businessmen as part its chit fund money trail probe. Mohapatra, who was expelled from BJD in 2012 for anti-party activities, did not rule out the complicity of the chief minister in the scam.

"If the CBI thinks the CM has played some role, I am sure it will summon him for questioning," he said soon after coming out of CBI office.