The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday interrogated the Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) secretary Asirbad Behera twice for his alleged link with the chit fund company Artha Tatwa (AT) Group.
Besides Behera, the CBI also quizzed five functionaries of the OCA including joint secretary, accountant and treasurer in the evening.Behera, who reached the probing agency’s office at 10.30 am, was interrogated for two and a half hours. He was quizzed in the presence of arrested builder Sagar Ray, who was co-owner of the cricket team Bhubaneswar Jaguars that participated in the first edition of the Odisha Premier league (OPl).
Source said CBI officials asked Behera how much money the AT Group, sponsor of the OPl-I, had invested in the tournament, which was organised by the OCA in 2011.Notably, the CBI on August 17 this year had raided Behera’s house and the OCA office in Cuttack and seized some documents.later, the OCA secretary had been quizzed by the agency. During the interrogation, the CBI had known that the OCA received Rs 1 crore from the AT Group as the company was the title sponsor of OPl-I.
In a related development, the CBI on Sunday quizzed Seashore CMD Prashant Dash and his son Pradeep in connection with the chit fund scam.CBI sources said Pradeep was managing the company’s business after the arrest of his father from Mumbai on June 19 last year. He might have known some money trails of the company, the sources added.
The probing agency would also examine phone call details of Pradeep to elicit some vital information from him.