That all the hullabaloo over Commissionerate Police’s investigation into the chit fund scam of Artha Tatwa Group (ATG) is an attempt to give cover to more than it reveals is increasingly getting conspicuous by the day. Even as some of the so-called “big names” were made to parade in full media glare at the Kharavela Nagar police station in the name of summons and quizzing, some managed to stay out of the probe scanner.
How else can one explain the soft treatment given to a hotelier who had a major land deal with the AT Group? Nowhere has this man’s name cropped up in the entire process of investigation nor has he made to the “list of suspects” who were issued summons for appearance at the Kharavela Nagar police station.
Interestingly, the man in question, K Das, runs a hotel - with facilities for a bar and restaurant - located barely a few hundred metres from the police station.
Investigation revealed that the hotelier had entered into a deal with the AT Group for a patch of land measuring about 1.9 acre at Jamujhari on the outskirts of the City.
The land was originally settled in the name of Sambit Khuntia, one of the Directors of AT Group, before it was decided to be sold to the hotelier. The deal was arrived at more than two crores of rupees.
While he had made a certain payment to the company, days before AT Group chief Pradip Sethi was arrested last month, the final round of settlement was chalked out. Surprisingly, although the police were aware of the whole dealing, he has been kept out of the scanner.
He was not even mentioned anywhere in the probe process notwithstanding the fact that Commissionerate Police was pretty much generous with the names of at least 30 persons who had business dealings with AT Group.
Their names were not only announced well in advance but also media was given ample scope to cover the summons and interrogation process.
The hotelier though has managed to keep himself out of the loop with help of influential friends in the police, sources say his restaurant even supplies delicious food as and when required to the cops.
