Odisha chit fund scam: CBI raids AT Group at fifty locations

25 teams of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided about 50 locations in Odisha in connection with the chit fund operations of the Artha Tatwa (AT) Group.

The CBI raided three flats in Bishnupriya Apartments in Nayapalli area of Bhuaneswar. Sources say that three former directors of AT Group Jaiprakash, Jyotiprakash and Ramakant Dhir, who were earlier staying in two flats in Bishnupriya Apartments on rent had later purchased these. Their family members are presently residing in these apartments.

The CBI raided these flats apart from the one in which Prasanna Sethy, brother of Pradip Sethy is residing.

Moreover, the CBI has raided the ancestral house of Pradip Sethy in Brahmapur where his father Udayanath Sethy is presently staying.

The central agency has also raided the residence of Sanjeeb Khuntia at the Housing Board Colony in Khurda. Khuntia was a director with the AT Group, reports said.

A certain location in Puri is also being raided, reports added.

Multiple teams of the central investigative agency began raids early today at around 5am at multiple locations including Bhubaneswar, Baleswar and Brahmapur.

The sleuths searched the houses and offices Prasanna Sethy, is the brother of Pradip Sethy, the chairman-cum-managing director (CMD) of AT Group. AT Group chief Pradip Sethy and four of the directors of the AT Group are presently lodged in jail.

The AT Group is said to have collected several crores of rupees from lakhs of investors in Odisha. The sources in the CBI said their probe will be focusing its investigations on the money trail as well as the company's links with politicians, journalists and bureaucrats.