Bhubaneswar, Sept. 17: A Special CBI court here today remanded the two directors of the Rose Valley Group in the custody of the central investigative agency for seven days.
The CBI had sought the remand of the two directors, Ashok Kumar Saha and Shibamoy Dutta, to help it in its investigation in the financial irregularities of the money deposit collection firm in the state. The duo had been arrested in Calcutta on September 11.
Sources said that a designated court of the CBI in Calcutta had allowed the investigating agency to take transit custody of both the directors until today and to produce them in Bhubaneswar, where a case had been registered against the fraudulent company.
The CBI had, in March, conducted a raid on the company's city office. The central agency, during the raids, had found some photographs featuring political leaders alongside the company officials. One of these photos had featured chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
The company has allegedly duped over 1.25 lakh people of more than Rs 100 crore in the state. The police had registered as many as 25 cheating cases against the company at different places in the state and had also arrested seven functionaries of the company. The Calcutta-based deposit collection firm had collected investments through its 65 branches across the state.
The crime branch, which was probing the financial irregularities of the group in the state, too, had proposed the attachment of the company's assets, including Rs 51 crore in different banks, Rs 47 lakh in cash and 15 acres in Bhubaneswar and Balasore.
Singer assaulted
Devotional singer Arabinda Muduli and his son were injured after a drunkard attacked the duo in front of their residence at Bhimtangi this afternoon.
Police have arrested the accused, Ila Behera, 30, for the assault.
The incident took place when Muduli was returning to his residence with his son in their car. "Two youths, who were drunk, were fighting among themselves. My son intervened and asked them to clear the road, and all of a sudden, one of them assaulted him," said Muduli.
Muduli, who is famous for his bhajans on Jagannath, was also not spared. "After he assaulted my son, I intervened and was also assaulted. I became senseless. Later, local residents rescued me and rushed me to the nearest hospital," said the 54-year-old singer, who sustained minor injuries on his face.
Inspector in-charge of Airfield police station Bharat Sahoo said: "The accused was arrested based on the footage recorded by a closed-circuit television."
