The CBI on Monday arrested former State Advocate General (AG) Asok Mohanty and forwarded him to court in connection with his alleged involvement in a fraudulent property deal with a chit fund company CMD.
Mohnaty was produced in the CBI Special Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, which allowed the CBI to take him on a two-day remand for questioning.
The CBI counsel told the court that the signature of Artha Tatwa Group CMD Pradeep Sethy in the money receipt issued to Mohanty for sale of his house in Cuttack to the former AG (Mohanty) was fake.
Besides, the details of only Rs 70 lakh paid in seven cheques are available although Mohanty claimed to have paid a total of Rs 1 crore 1 lakh to Sethy, the CBI counsel said, adding that Mohanty would be questioned about these points if taken remand.
The arrest comes after several rounds of questioning of Mohanty by the Special Investigation Team of the CBI.
A team of CBI sleuths arrested Mohanty from his Markat Nagar residence in Cuttack and immediately took him to the CBI regional office in Bhubaneswar. Mohanty was forwarded in a CBI court in the evening after his medical examination in a hospital.
Mohanty’s resignation had been accepted on September 12, just the day before he was summoned by the CBI for questioning in connection with his purchase of a plot and building from Artha Tatwa CMD Sethy.
CBI sources said Mohanty did not cooperate during the investigation and denied the allegations leveled against him.
While being shifted to Bhubaneswar after his arrest here, Mohanty told mediapersons, “I haven’t done any mistake.”
The arrest of Mohantyhas shocked the legal fraternity here with many lawyers being speechless.