Odisha chit fund scam: CBI takes businessman on remand

A court here Monday allowed the CBI to take the owner of a media house on remand for 10 days for his alleged role in the multi-crore-rupee chit fund scam in Odisha.

The special chief judicial magistrate in Bhubaneswar remanded Madhu Mohanty, a real estate developer and owner of Odia daily Odisha Bhaskar, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody.

Mohanty and Manoj Das, the owner of Kamyab TV, a local television channel, were arrested by the CBI Sunday. The court will Tuesday decide on the bail plea of Das.

The CBI is investigating the chit fund scam on the direction of the Supreme Court.

The scam came to light after a large number of investors last year complained that many firms collected huge amounts of money from them promising high returns, but later refused to pay them back as promised.

The CBI is probing at least 44 companies in Odisha. They include Kolkata-based Saradha Group, and Odisha-based Seashore and Artha Tatwa groups. The loss from the scam is claimed to be running into thousands of crores of rupees.

Both Mohanty and Das have been arrested for their alleged link with the Artha Tatwa group.