BHUBANESWAR: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday conducted simultaneous raids on the offices of Chennai-based Ponzi firm Sastra Enterprises Pvt Ltd in nine places across the country, including Odisha. The CBI conducted raids in Chennai, Tripura, Madurai including Bhubaneswar, Baripada, and Bhadrak in Odisha. Sources revealed the CBI has seized several incriminating documents during the raids in the company’s Bhubaneswar office. The Chennai-based Ponzi firm has allegedly duped crores of rupees from gullible investors in Odisha through different schemes by promising lucrative rates of interest.
The company had widespread operations especially in Balasore and Bhadrak and Mayurbhanj districts in the state. It collected crores of rupees by luring people on the pretext of hefty returns in a short span of time. Sastra Enterprises closed down its offices in Odisha in 2010. The company has allegedly collected over Rs 150 crores from across the state. The company’s managing director V. Sampath was arrested in May 2013 from Chennai. He is currently lodged in Odisha's Bargarh jail.
In a related development, the CBI Special Chief Judicial Magistrate (Spl CJM) Court on Tuesday allowed the CBI to take arrested former Youth Congress state president Rajat Choudhury and senior High Court lawyer Debasish Panda on a three-day remand for further investigation. Both Choudhury and Panda were arrested by the CBI for their alleged complicity in the Artha Tatwa (AT) Group chit fund scam on Monday. The duo was arrested after AT Group chief Pradip Sethy was grilled by the CBI in Jharpada Special Jail earlier in the day.
