After a brief lull, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has resumed its raids and interrogations in connection with the mega chit fund scams in the State. On Tuesday, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the CBI conducted simultaneous raids at 14 places across the State. Sources said that nine teams of the SIT began the raids in Bhubaneswar and another place in Khordha district and Ganjam, Angul and Sambalpur districts. This time, the SIT teams raided the head office and branch offices of the Safex Infra India Pvt ltd.
“Searches were conducted on the residential premises of accused directors of the company namely Firoj Khan, Purna Chandra Biswal, Chinmaya Subudhi, Amanullah Khan, Santosh Nanda and other persons. Incriminating documents in this case have been found during the search,” a CBI Spokesperson said in New Delhi. The SIT officials conducted raids at the company’s head office at Gandhi Nagar and a branch office in Brahmapur and another branch office at Taratarini under the Purushottampur police limits in Ganjam district. The team also raided a branch office at Gautam Nagar in Chhatrapur area of the distr ict. Apart from that, the teams raided other branch offices in Khordha and the Bomikhal area in Bhubaneswar which have been closed for one and a half years.Notably, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the State Crime Branch had arrested eight office-bearers of the company and seized 15 acres of land and bank account of Rs 6 lakh last year. Safex Infra India was one of the 26 companies being investigated by the SIT, sources said.