Banki MLA and BJD leader Prabhat Tripathy was arrested by CBI on Friday evening over his alleged involvement with the Artha Tatwa (AT) Group, which has been involved in the multi-crore chit fund scam. Following his arrest, Tripathy was suspended from BJD.
Tripathy had been interrogated by CBI for his alleged link with AT group chief Pradip Sethy, who is behind the bars for allegedly duping hundreds of investors.
Tripathy’s residences in Banki and Cuttack were raided and bank accounts of his close aide Subash Padhi were scrutinised by the CBI.
On September 30, the High Court had granted Tripathy interim relief from arrest till October 13. Later, the court had rejected the bail plea of Tripathy. The CBI had also produced the voice test report of a compact disk carrying a telephonic conversion between Tripathy and Sethy regarding sponsorship for the Banki Mahotsav.
Former MP and Congress leader Pradip Majhi says, “it is now clear that the ruling BJD headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has been involved in chit fund scam”.
However, senior BJD leader and Co-operation, Excise Minister Damodar Rout said the arrest of Tripathy would not have any adverse impact on the ruling party.
