Chittaranjan Das

Cuttack, April 9: CID-Crime Branch will shortly publish advertisements seeking complaints from people who have been allegedly duped by Chittaranjan Das, an Independent sitting councillor of Cuttack Municipal Corporation, arrested in connection with real estate fraud.

The move is aimed at ascertaining the exact amount of fraud committed by Das, who was nabbed from the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on Monday.

The councillor was produced before the sub-divisional judicial magistrate, Bhubaneswar, today and the investigating agency has requested the court for a three-day remand.

“We will invite people to file complaints. So far, we have received only one complaint against the accused. We want to ascertain how much money has been collected by Chittaranjan. We are looking into all his deals and transactions,” said additional director general of police, Crime Branch, B.K. Sharma.

Sharma said that the investigation would be done in the manner in which probes to money deposit scams were conducted. He has been booked under the Odisha Protection of Interest of Depositors (in Financial Establishments) Act 2011.

The investigating agency faces a tough task as most of the offices set up by Chittaranjan in various places have been closed since 2009. There is hardly any possibility to recover documents and other electronic gadgets, including computers.

The Crime Branch was asked by the Lokpal to investigate the complaint filed by social activist Mohinidhar Patnaik in connection with a land fraud case.

The Crime Branch had arrested Chittaranjan from New Delhi on Monday. He had absconded after a petition was filed in Orissa High Court.

Chittaranjan was brought to Cuttack yesterday by a team of the Crime Branch officials after he was produced in the chief metropolitan magistrate’s court following his arrest in New Delhi.

Crime Branch sources said that the police had definite information about Das, who was elected as a councillor from Cuttack city, had duped many people even in Mumbai and Bengal.

Chittaranjan used to enjoy a lavish lifestyle and was a frequent flyer to the United Arab Emirates.

The Crime Branch is hoping to ascertain more facts about Chittaranjan’s foreign links as well as his area of operation in other metros in the country during interrogation after he is brought on a three-day remand tomorrow.