Niranjan Questions CBI Investigation Process Into Chit Fund Scam

BHUBANESWAR: Senior Congress leader Niranjan Patnaik has added a new dimension to the CBI investigation into chit fund case involving minister Sanjay Das Burma.

The name of Das Burma figured in CBI interrogation of Pradeep Sethi, prime accused in the Artha Tatwa Chit fund case a year and a half back, but remained unknown. What is now known is a single sentence in the interrogation report implicating the minister.

“But how can an interrogation of an accused on any issue be completed in just one sentence. The IO is duty bound to ask the next set of logical questions:  who is the person, what is his address, why was the car gifted, when was the car gifted and what was the modus operandi. IO cannot stop after coming to hear of such information. He has to ask the follow-up questions and record the entire statement,” said Patnaik.

He said the IO’s behaviour is extraordinary and is an obstruction of justice.

“Is it a mistake or deliberately done to protect the accused? What the accused says now is not important, the question is while he was in CBI custody why wasn’t he asked to give the details?” he added.

There is no dispute to the fact that the minister has taken a loan from Vijaya Bank, and the repayment has been done from his account in Uco Bank. But, the question is what is the source of the money deposited in Uco Bank. Since the Minister was a public servant, did he inform the speaker about availing loan and buying of vehicle? Why did he dispose of the car abruptly? What were the disclosures made to the bank while availing loan?  How did he and his family amass so much of wealth in so less a time?

Chit fund companies invented new ways of cheating people and those in power found new ways of indulging in corruption to share the booty. Sanjay Das Verma took the loan, and the repayment was done by Pradeep Sethi. This is a unique and sophisticated way of indulging in corruption. CBI knows it all, but has been asked not to probe further.

Giving credit to his party colleague Lulu Mohapatra for exposing such ‘new-age corruption’ modus operandi, Niranjan alleged that a few state BJP leaders may want CBI to act, but the CBI central leadership will do nothing further. CBI will do nothing because of the protection that Naveen Babu enjoys from Amit Shah and others, may be even Narendra Modi.