Senior Congress leader Niranjan Patnaik today demanded that CBI must subject accused persons in chit fund scam to custodial interrogation to expose the larger conspiracy.
Welcoming the CBI raids to trace money lost by depositors duped into investing in chit fund firms, Patnaik said while these raids unmask flourishing of chit fund companies under the patronage of BJD leaders, they can at best be preliminary steps in a long and complex investigation.
"Obviously the scamsters had been anticipating these raids for a long time and must have either destroyed records or recreated documents to protect them from criminal liability," said Patnaik, a former minister and ex-PCC chief.
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"I was not surprised that a prominent BJD leader raided by the CBI is confident that the investigating agency would have found nothing against me. No one anticipating a CBI raid will hold on to incriminating material," Niranjan said in a statement.
Niranjan said he had written a letter to the chief minister on May 8, 2013 alleging that Chit fund companies had been allowed to function right under the nose of the government and accorded "legitimacy by BJD leaders."
People of Odisha expect a lot from the CBI despite the delay in starting a genuine investigation. But, the worry is CBI actions may turn out to be too little and too late unless the scamsters are subjected to through custodial interrogation, Patnaik said.
