Bhubaneswar, Aug. 17: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) today secured custody of Sambit Kumar Khuntia, one of the directors of the of Artha Tatwa (AT) group, a money circulation company, from a local court here for further investigation.

The investigating agency had arrested Khuntia , who had evaded it for nearly a month, during its state-wide raids yesterday.

Sources said Khuntia, a Plus Two drop out, was the head of AT groups office operating in Khurda and the group has bought more than 100 acres of land at several places under Khurda tehsil, including Jakara, Managobindpur and Malipada, in his name.

Khuntia hails from a lower middle class family and came in contact with Pradeep Sethy, the chairman-cum-managing director of AT Group, while he was working with a Bhubaneswar based insurance company where the latter used to be the branch manager. While Khuntia’s father was working as a bus conductor his mother worked with a manufacturing unit in Khurda. CBI sources expect that his interrogation would help the agency in unravelling the company’s operation in the state.

CBI officials today raided the corporate office of the AT Group operating from Kharvela Nagar. The central agency seized many documents and around 30 computers and hard discs from the office. The CBI had sealed the office running in a rented house since 2009 yesterday.

The Khurda branch of the group, which had an extensive network in the state, is alleged to have duped hundreds of investors to the tune of Rs 50 crore.

A case in this regard had been registered with Khurda Town police station in May last year. The Khurda Town police had registered a case against 15 functionaries of the group, including Sethy and Khuntia. However, since then the group had closed its office and Khuntia was on the run.

The CBI officials yesterday raided houses and offices of several people, including BJD’s high-profile MLA Pravat Tripathy, for their alleged links with the AT Group. The central agency had conducted raids at 58 locations across the state.

Senior Congress leader Niranjan Patnaik today demanded that the CBI should interrogate the arrested officer-bearers of the group to expose the larger conspiracy. The AT Group, which came into existence in 2008, has as many as nine sister companies. The group has allegedly duped thousands of depositors by fraudulently collecting nearly Rs 750 crore from the investors in three years between 2010 and 2012.