8 ‘chit’ firm employees arrested in Phulbani

Phulbani: Acting on complaints of some investors, the
Kandhamal police on Saturday night arrested eight employees of a chit fund
company on the charge of collecting money promising high returns to them in the
district.

“Basing on an FIR lodged by one woman investor Mini Nayak and others a
raid was conducted at the offices of ‘Micro Finance’ at Raikia and Baliguda areas
and a total of eight employees were arrested from the two offices,” district
Superintendent of Police (SP) Kuanr Vilas Singh told reporters here.

The arrested persons identified as cash collector Surya
Narayan Panda, four marketing executive officers like Thomas Pradhan, Santosh
Dakua, Rajesh Dakua, Santosh Panda, field officer Jaganath Sahoo, all are of
company’s Raikia branch and development officer-cum-clerk Trinath Naik, filed
officer Purnachandra Amat of Baliguda branch were booked under various Sections
of IPC and provisions of Prize Chits and Money Circulation (Banning) Act, 1978,
he said, adding that the case would be handed over to CBI, which is now probing
into the chit fund scams in the State.

However, company’s Kandhamal and Ganjam unit chief Bhajaram
Gauda and Raikia branch manager Santosh Sahoo are still at large.

The police also seized records, registers, list of
employees, list of depositors and schemes, cash books, brochures, three computers, balance sheets and
other accessories and started investigation. More than 400 agents are working
as the company’s agents in the district.