The much-publicised Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry into the mega chit fund scam in Odisha seems to have got into a protracting mode, leading to doubts among the affected depositors and the public at large.
For weeks, the CBI has been focusing on the fraud of the Artha Tatwa (AT) Group and this appears to be an unduly meandering affair.
And the only biggie that the agency has been able to interrogate in the process is senior BJD MlA Pravat Tripathy.
But going by hard facts, even this leader has been granted a long rope by the CBI.
The CBI has so far rounded up a lesser-known BJD politician Ranjan Dash, three media owners and Mumbai-based model Preeti Bhatia, who was subjected to five long rounds of interrogation.
The CBI has so far shied away from targeting the Seashore Group, a major chit fund operator which allegedly has direct links with the ruling BJD’s top leadership as well as some powerful bureaucrats.
This has raised suspicion in many quarters and provoked the original anti-chit fund scam petitioner in the Supreme Court Alok Jena to cry foul and demand direct monitoring by the apex
court.
Observers see two possible reasons why the CBI is going slow on the Seashore Group’s fraud. One, it’s possible that the BJD has struck a political deal with the Modi Government at the Centre by promising unqualified support to the NDA Government provided its top leaders and babus are granted immunity from the CBI’s chit fund probe.
The second possibility of the snail’s-pace and play-safe approach of the CBI probe is linked to the appointment of the next CBI Director. Sources claim that a senior CBI official, who is eyeing the coveted post, is in touch with the political bosses and their loyal bureaucrats in Odisha and has allegedly promised them a safe passage in the chit fund probe if they help him by creating hurdles for former Odisha DGP Prakash Mishra, who is a strong rival for the top CBI post.
The observers say there is a great need for the apex court to review the progress of the CBI probe and inquire into the reasons behind the Central agency “beating around the bush” and its alleged reluctance to target the ponzi firms that have direct involvement of bigwigs in politics and
bureaucracy.