Odisha business group chief held in chit fund scam

Prashant Dash, head of an Odisha-based business group, has been arrested in Mumbai in connection with an alleged chit fund scam, police said Thursday.

Dash, the chairman of Odisha-based Seashore Group, was arrested in Mumbai Wednesday evening by a team of the economic offence wing of the crime branch of police.

"He will be brought to the state on a transit remand and produced before court Thursday," a senior police official here told IANS.

Seashore Group has been accused of collecting money from thousands of people in Odisha by promising high returns. Police had registered several cases against Dash and the group's five directors in July last year after a large number of investors lodged complaints against them for not returning the assured money.

Police had raided various offices of the group in the state and had sealed them off.

Established in 2005, Seashore Group has been working in sectors including insurance, health care, IT and telecom, media, retail, education and agriculture.

The company denies any wrongdoing.