Odisha chit fund scam: CBI takes ex-advocate general on remand

A court here Monday allowed the CBI to take Odisha's former advocate general Ashok Mohanty on remand for two days for his alleged role in the multi-crore-rupee chit fund scam in the state.

Mohanty was Monday arrested from his home in Cuttack, 26 km from here, for his alleged link with the Artha Tatwa group.

The special CBI court in Bhubaneswar remanded Mohanty to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody for two days, his lawyer said.

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, including the Kolkata-based Saradha Group and the Odisha-based Seashore and Artha Tatwa groups. The loss from the scam is claimed to be running into thousands of crores of rupees.

Mohanty was earlier interrogated by the CBI Sep 13, a day after he resigned from the advocate general's post. He was accused of purchasing a house from Artha Tatwa group chief Pradip Sethy through questionable means.

Mohanty said he had a clear conscience and was not involved in any wrongdoing.

"I have complete faith on god and my guru. Truth will prevail," he told reporters after his arrest Monday.