Odisha chit fund scam: CBI takes Rose Valley boss on 9-day remand

BHUBANESWAR: The Special CBI court here on Monday allowed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take Rose Valley Group chairman Gautam Kundu on a nine-day remand for further interrogation into the chit fund scam in Odisha.

Although the central investigating agency prayed the court to allow it to take Kundu on 14-day remand, the court allowed taking the chit fund accused on nine-day remand.

CBI had brought Kundu from Kolkata on transit remand on Sunday.

The CBI has included 131 witnesses and 257 documents in the charge-sheet. The accused have been charged under sections 120 (B), 420, 409 of the IPC and sections 4 and 6 of Prize and Chits Banning Act.

The CBI had filed a preliminary charge-sheet against Kundu and three top executives of Rose Valley Group— managing director (MD) Sibamaya Datta and two directors Ashok Kumar Saha and Ram Lal Goswami— on January 7 this year for allegedly cheating thousands of gullible investors promising high returns on their deposits.

The company had allegedly duped investors to the tune of nearly Rs 17,000 crore across India including Rs 500 crore in Odisha.

The central investigating agency has named three firms – Rose Valley Real Estate & Construction Ltd, Rose Valley Hotel & Entertainment Ltd and Rose Valley Real Estate & Land Bank India Ltd – in its charge sheet.