BHUBANESWAR: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested Swastik India head Ranjan Das and two directors for their alleged complicity in the multi-crore chit fund scam in the State.
Das along with directors Pramod Parida and Sabyasachi Pani had floated Swastik India Multi State Credit Cooperative through which they allegedly swindled public money of `10 crore.
Swastik India was listed among 44 companies which are being probed by the CBI in chit fund scam. While Das is the Chairman of the company, Parida and Pani are the directors.
Incidentally, Das was arrested by the CBI in September, 2014 for his complicity in Artha Tatwa (AT) Group scam. He was granted bail on health grounds by Orissa High Court on January 29.
The trio has been booked under Sections 420, 409, 509 and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and Section 456 of the Prize Chit and Money Circulation (Banning) Scheme Act.
In July 2014, the CBI conducted simultaneous raids on 12 locations of Swastik India across the State and seized incriminating documents.
Das and a former director of Artha Tatwa (AT) Group, Jagabandhu Panda had floated Swastik India by allegedly mobilising depositor’s money from the AT Group.
Swastik India operated from its offices at Nayapalli, Baramunda and Laxmisagar in the Capital, CBI sources said. Besides Bhubaneswar, it had offices in Balasore, Bhadrak, Sundargarh and Jharsuguda.