BHUBANESWAR: Tightening the noose on BJD MLA Pravat Tripathy for his alleged links with the Artha Tatwa (AT) Group in the multi-hundred crore chit fund scam, the CBI on Monday cracked down on his close associate Subash Padhi in Banki.
A five-member team of the investigating agency searched Padhi’s house and seized important documents. The operation started at 7 am and continued till 3 pm.
Padhi, a close aide of the former Government chief whip Tripathy, is a contractor and happens to be a journalist by profession. He also was a former councillor of Notified Area Council of Banki. During Saturday’s raid on Tripathy’s Banki and Cuttack houses, the CBI had got clues about his links with Padhi which prompted the agency to zero in on the contractor.
“Padhi’s links with Tripathy and AT Group is not the only issue under investigation. His connection with Swastik India Group is also being checked,” sources said. This is for the third consecutive day that raids are continuing in connectionwith the AT Group. On Monday, the CBI sleuths also raided the house of Odisha Jan Morcha (OJM) leader Jagneswar Babu in Balangir for the second time. Babu, who was with the BJD before switching over to the Pyari Mohan Mohapatra-led OJM, had allegedly received loans from the AT Group. He was also quizzed by the Commissionerate Police last year.
Meanwhile, two top executives of Green India Finance (GIF) who were taken on a 10-day remand by the CBI were produced before a designated CBI court here. The two were sent to judicial custody. The investigating agency had raided the offices of GIF at 12 places across the State in the second week of this month and arrested its managing director Pradeep Singh and director Sunil Panda. The company is accused of duping investors of several crores of rupees by mobilising deposits with promises of lucrative returns and real estate deals.
During the raid, the CBI had also stumbled upon cash, a dozen cars and an apartment in the City apart from landed properties.