Odisha issues ad-interim order to attach properties of Hi-Tech

The Odisha government today issued an ad-interim order for attachment of the properties of a business group in connection with the multi-crore land scam case levelled against it.
The state government issued the order based on the proposal of the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch of Odisha Police which was probing into the land scam.
The attached properties included four buildings comprising the corporate office of M/S Hi-Tech Estates & Promotion Private Limited located in Bhubaneswar, land in different projects of the company and Hi-Tech Medical College to the extent of more than 146 acre and 53 bank accounts with deposits of over Rs 1 crore, an official statement said.

It is estimated that current market value of the properties to be attached will run into few crores, an official said.
The EOW had registred five cases againast Tirupati Panigrahi, Tirupati Chodhury and Madusudan Panigrahi, respectively the managing director and directors of Hi-Tech Group of companies, on charge of cheating large number of depositors by making false promise of providing plots in various schemes in and around Bhubaneswar, the official said.
During December 2012, the three accused persons were arrested and released from jail after February 2014 under the orders of the Supreme Court.

The accused deposited over Rs 63 crore in the registry of the Apex Court as gurantee for the bail.

The court subsequently transferred the amount to the designated court, Cuttack constituted under the OPID Act, 2011.
With the attachment of properties of Hi-Tech Group of Companies and transferred of over Rs 63 crore, proceeding will commence shortly for making the ad-interim attachment order for proportionate distribution among the allegedly cheated depositers undet the orders of the designated court, the statement said.