Justice Madan M Das to head Chitfund Inquiry Commission

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha government today appointed Justice Madan Mohan Das as head of the Commission of Inquiry probing into the multi-crore chit fund scam in the state.

Justice Das, a retired judge of Orissa High Court, was appointed as the head of the Inquiy Commission as the post fell vacant after the death of Justice Radha Krushna Patra on January 28.

Keeping in view the urgency of appointment of the chairperson of the inquiry commission, the government selected Justice Das for the post, an official at the Chief Minister's Office said.

The role of the inquiry commission is significant as the state government had set up a Rs 300 crore corpus fund in order to return money to the small investors cheated by ponzi companies.

Meanwhile, the State government has begun digitisation of chit fund claim documents received by the probe panel to expedite the refund of money to duped investors. In the first phase, a total 2,10,000 claims would be scanned and digitised to segregate the small and large investors. Officials said the commission has so far received about 5.5 lakh claims.