Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, May 21: Within a week, another director of Vista Management Services Ltd, Bijay Swain, was arrested Thursday from the city by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the state Crime Branch.
SP Rajendra Pattnaik of EOW said Swain was arrested for his involvement in cheating and misappropriation of public money.
“The company duped investors by promising high returns on deposits. They gave nothing,” Pattnaik said.
The EOW had May 17 arrested Deb Kumar Panda, managing director of the company, while he was leaving the city via the Bhubaneswar-Tirupati Express to catch a flight from Vizag to Singapore. Panda was later taken on a three-day police remand for further interrogation which ended Thursday.
Incidentally, the EOW has discovered a letter dated November, 2011 from Balakrushna Rath, then chairman of Agricultural Promotion and Investment Corporation of Orissa Ltd (APICOL) to the district agriculture officer of Khurda district which states: “Vista Agriculture and Farming Pvt Ltd have started mushroom farming at Bantala village of Khurda district. They intend to establish an agro services centre (ASC) there. Hence, you are requested to issue one promoter’s profile in favour of the company and process their ASC proposal.”
The link between APICOL and Vista emerged during a search conducted by EOW at APICOL’s office here Wednesday. Among the things seized during the raid was a Vista brochure that claimed the company had partnered APICOL in projects worth `500 crore, EOW sources said.