Pyari submits documents to ED in chit fund case

Rajya Sabha MP and former Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader, Pyari Mohan Mohapatra today submitted documents and information relating to some chit fund companies and their business links with the state government to the Enforcement Directorate (ED), sources said.

Mohapatra declined to divulge any details to the media about the two and half hour he spent at the ED office here.

"Why should I tell you anything? It is your (media's) job to find out. If I have to say something, I would call a press conference," he said after coming out of the office.

ED officials confirmed Mohapatra's interaction with them but did not give much details about whether he came there as a suspect or a witness to assist the ongoing probe regarding trail of money raised by the chit fund firms from the depositors.

"Who told you I was interrogated," said an angry Mohapatra when reporters asked him about his presence at the ED office.

Earlier, Mohapatra had said that he was ready to cooperate with any agency investigating money trail of the chit fund firms. Sources said, he has provided information about money trail of chit fund companies, Sea Shore and Artha Tatwa group.

The state government has been accused of facilitating the business of chit fund firms after arrest of senior leaders of the ruling party including a sitting MP and MLA and a former MLA of BJD.

Apart from politicians, speculation was rife that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) might arrest top Odisha cricket official Ashirbad Behera, after marathon 11 hours interrogation of Behera in two phases that lasted up to 3 am in the morning of Monday.

During the interrogation, Behera was asked to produce documents related to expenditure of the cricket tournament Odisha Premier League (OPL), started in 2011 with the help of chit fund firm Artha Tatwa Group (AT Group).

The Artha Tatwa (AT) Group is among 44 firms under CBI scanner for duping thousands of investors in the state through fraudulent money circulation schemes.