Odisha chit fund scam: CBI quizzes two IPS officers in a day

The CBI Sunday interrogated two IPS officers in Odisha for their alleged links with a man arrested by the investigating agency in connection with the multi-crore-rupee chit fund scam in the state.

After quizzing Rajesh Kumar, deputy inspector general (DIG) of Odisha's north-central range, for over three hours Sunday morning, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) later in the day questioned Kendrapara Superintendent of Police Satish Gajbhiye for over two and a half hours for his alleged link with a broker.

CBI sources said the Indian Police Service (IPS) officers were questioned for their alleged link with Subhankar Nayak, who is believed to have close relations with top bureaucrats and to have brokered deals on behalf of chit fund company Seashore Group.

"I knew Nayak since 2008. He introduced himself as a journalist. In public life, one keeps meeting all kinds of people and he was one of the many people I knew. However, I had no special relationship with him," Gajbhiye later told the media.

He feigned ignorance how his name came in the diaries seized by the CBI.

Gajbhiye was police superintendent in Dhenkanal before taking over as the commandant of the Orissa Special Armed Police (OSAP) and then as police superintendent in Kendrapara.

Earlier Sunday, DIG Rajesh Kumar was interrogated by the investigating agency for his alleged link with Nayak.

"I have told the CBI whatever I had to tell them," Rajesh Kumar told the media after his interrogation.

Rajesh Kumar was DIG of the Economic Offences Wing of the Crime Branch before he assumed the charge as DIG of north-central range.

He was also monitoring the probe into the chit fund scams, including the Seashore Group.

CBI sources said the agency got reports about Rajesh Kumar's alleged involvement in the scam from the diaries seized from Nayak's house.

The CBI also found the involvement of several bureaucrats from the seized diaries.

The Seashore Group is alleged to have duped people of about Rs.1,500 crore while it had signed agreements with the state government in the tourism, health and cooperative sectors.