Ponzi scam: CBI arrests former honorary secy of Odisha Cricket Association

The CBI arrested former honorary secretary of the Odisha Cricket Association Asirbad Behera and a hotel representative on Thursday in connection with a ponzi scam related to the Artha Tatwa (AT) group, officials said. Besides Behera, who was arrested from his residence in Cuttack, the agency also took into custody Kamalakanta Das, representative of Hotel Solan Inn, from his home in Bhubaneswar on the basis of non-bailable warrants (NBWs) issued by the Special CBI court in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday, they said.

The CBI had filed a supplementary charge sheet on August 27 this year against Behera, Das and Sambit Kumar Khuntia, a private person. After filing of the charge sheet, NBWs were issued by the court for the arrest of Behera and Das with directions to execute the same on or before September 20.

"Both the accused persons were arrested today from their residential premises at Bhubaneswar and Cuttack. The third accused, Sambit Kumar Khuntia, mentioned in the charge sheet was earlier granted bail by the high court on November 11, 2016 after his arrest," a senior official said here. While being whisked away by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team, Behera told reporters that he was arrested in connection with a case registered way back in 2012.

"I will fight it legally," Behera said. The CBI had on August 16, 2014 raided the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA)

office and Behera's residence. The probe agency had interrogated Behera five times suspecting his alleged links with the AT group. Earlier, the CBI had registered the instant case against the AT group and others in compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court passed in May 2014.

In its charge sheet on August 27, the agency alleged that the association, through Behera, the then honorary secretary, acted in a criminal conspiracy with the AT group and promoted it to boost its credibility in the eyes of public, they said. It helped in attracting more investments in the different ponzi schemes floated by the AT group.

It is alleged that the accused received a sum of approximately Rs 1 crore from the said group of companies in the garb of sponsorship of the Odisha Ranjit Cricket Team and title sponsorship of the Odisha Premier League, 2011. "It was also alleged that the representative of a hotel (Das) in criminal conspiracy with other co-accused private persons was actively involved in the misappropriation of the immovable properties of the said group of companies (Artha Tatwa) at Balasore and Bhubaneswar," a CBI spokesperson had said here after filing of the charge sheet.

It is alleged that by doing so he became a partner to misappropriate the said properties purchased out of the funds of the group. "In furtherance of the criminal conspiracy, the said accused allegedly misappropriated the sale proceeds of two immovable properties," he had said.