Bhubaneswar: The Central Bureau of Investigation Thursday arrested former secretary of Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) Asirbad Behera in connection with his alleged links with Artha Tatwa (AT) group, a chit fund firm.
The CBI sleuths picked up Behera from his Cuttack residence in the morning and brought to the agency’s headquarters here. He was arrested as he was facing a non-bailable warrant in the case, CBI Superintendent of Police JN Rana told reporters.
“There is no need for the agency to seek Behera’s remand as he has been arrested on the basis of a NBW,” he said.
While being whisked away by the CBI team, Behera told reporters that he was arrested in connection with a case registered way back in 2012.
The special CBI court later sent Asirbad Behera to judicial custody after rejecting his bail plea. A hotelier, Kamalakant Das, who owned Hotel Salon Inn, was also arrested from his residence and sent to custody along with Behera. The next hearing is scheduled to be held October 1.
The arrests were made after the CBI filed a supplementary chargesheet in the designated court here against Behera and two others August 29.
The CBI August 16, 2014, raided the OCA office and Behera’s residence. The agency had interrogated Behera five times suspecting his links with the AT group. The agency had also interrogated the OCA staff in this connection.
Behera was also questioned twice by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the AT chit fund scam case, sources said. The case was filed under various sections of the IPC and Prize Chits & Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978, an official said.
Meanwhile, the other accused, Sambit Khuntia who was the director of AT group, has been out on bail since 2016.