In a jolt to ruling Biju Janata Dal, the CBI on Tuesday arrested BJD MP Ramchandra Hansda and former party MLA Subarna Nayak over charges of their links with chit fund firm Nabadiganta Capital Services. Former BJP MLA Hitesh Bagarti too was arrested over the same charges. Soon after their arrest, BJD chief Naven Patnaik suspended Hansda and Nayak from the party like he had done to party MLA Pravat Tripathy on October 31. BJP in a press release said Bagartti is no longer a member of the party since Assembly polls early this year. All three were summoned by the CBI on Tuesday, for the third time in 12 days, for interrogation. In July this year, CBI had recovered Rs 28 lakh from the house of Hansda, first time MP and secretary of the BJD parliamentary party in Lok Sabha. An MLA of NCP in the last Assembly, Hansda switched to BJD on the eve of polls this year. Hansda, the founder director of the chit fund company had initially claimed that it was his ‘own money’ but later he changed his stand and said the money belonged to his supporters. Hitesh Bagartti and Subarna Nayak, MLAs in the last Assembly and directors in the same company, were denied tickets by the BJD and the BJP respectively in this year's elections. CBI sources said the three would be forwarded to court tomorrow. Earlier, chairman cum managing director of the company, Anjan Kumar Baliarsingh and two directors — Kartikeya Parida and Pradeep Patnaik — were arrested by CBI Oct 26. Nabadiganta Capital Services, one of the 44 chit fund firms being probed nder orders of Supreme Court, raised Rs 15 crore between August 2011 and 2013 from people promising better returns. Butt the company maaged to return only half of the money till its assets were seized by State CID following complaints from over 20000 duped depositors. This is the second arrest of BJD men after CBI got former chief whip and party MLA Pravat Tripathy on October 31 over his link with chit fund firm Artha Tatwa. Tripathy has been remanded to CBI till November 13 for interrogation. So far over 750 people have been arrested by CBI and Orissa police over their link with chit fund scam. CBI sources said more ruling party politicians may come in its net after they start interrogating Prashant Das, chief of chit fund group Seashore. Das, who is now being quizzed by ED, reportedly told his interrogators that Seashore more than Rs 50 crore in different government projects. Das collected hundeds of crores of from the public by offering high interest rates and then invested around Rs 12 crore each in health, tourism, industries and science and technology departments.
