Odisha chit fund company official arrested

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha police today arrested one of the directors of chit fund company Artha Tatwa (AT).

"The commissionerate of police have arrested one Jagabandhu Panda, a director of AT Group based on information of Pradip Sethi who had been earlier arrested," said DCP Nitinjit Singh.

Sethi, the CMD of AT Group, during his eight day remand in police custody which ended yesterday, had let out names of certain media persons and builders who helped him, Singh said.

Singh, however, claimed that Sethi has not named any minister, MLAs.

The AT group, a non-banking financial institution (NBFI) having operations across the state, was allegedly collecting money from people promising them high returns.

Singh said, police have registered several cases against Sethi on the basis of complaints lodged by as many as 60 people.

Preliminary investigation showed that the group allegedly duped investors to the tune of Rs 357 crore.

Meanwhile, depositors hit the streets at Angul and Nayagarh demanding return of their money from Seashore group.