BHUBANESWAR: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the CBI on Tuesday conducted simultaneous raids at 13 locations of chit fund firm Swastik India Multi State Credit Cooperative in the State.
The CBI sources said searches were carried out on 13 premises belonging to the company and its top executives across Odisha. Eight of these places, including Swastik India’s chief Ranjan Das’s residence at Badagada Brit Colony in the city, were raided during a four-hour operation by the agency officials.
Swastik India operated from its offices at Nayapalli, Baramunda and Laxmisagar in the Capital, CBI sources said.
Besides Bhubaneswar, the agency sleuths conducted searches at several locations in Balasore, Bhadrak, Sundargarh and Jharsuguda. The company was operating its business and has offices in these cities.
Das, an accused in the multi-hundred crore Artha Tatwa scam, was arrested by the CBI last year. He 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.
Das, was arrested by the CBI in September 2014 and granted bail on health grounds by the Orissa High Court on January 29.