CBI spares politicians, arrests chit fund firm men

Odisha Channel Bureau Bhubaneswar, Oct 26: Continuing investigation into the Odisha mega chit fund scam, the Central Bureau of Investigation on Sunday arrested chairman-cum-managing director of Nabadiganta Capital Services Anjan Kumar Baliarsingh and two directors of the company – Kartikeya Parida and Pradeep Patnaik.The CBI arrested the three after questioning them for several hours along with Biju Janata Dal MP Ramachandra Hansdah and two former legislators – Subarna Nayak of the BJD and Hitesh Bagarti of the BJP.The investigating agency, however, did not arrest any of the three politicians.Hansdah was also questioned by the CBI on Friday.The company functionaries were arrested after they were interrogated for the second time in three days.The three politicians were questioned about their alleged links with the Nabadiganta Capital Financial Services that has duped thousands of depositors in the State.The three leaders were directors in the chit fund firm.All the three politicians denied having any hand in duping the depositors, according to sources.The CBI had also questioned senior BJD legislator Pravat Tripathy on Saturday for his alleged links with Pradeep Sethy, head of Artha Tatwa Group, another company that had cheated thousands of depositors.Though the CBI has questioned many politicians, it has not arrested any politician so far.Many others, including former Advocate General of Odisha Ashok Mohanty, had been arrested by the CBI for their alleged involvement in the scam.While Mohanty has since been released on bail, others are in judicial custody.