Bhubaneswar, April 4: Khurda District and Session Court judge today rejected the bail plea of Artha Tatwa (AT) Group chief Pradeep Sethy, who has been in jail since 2013 following his arrest in connection with the deposit collection scam.
Though the court had heard the arguments of both the CBI counsel and defence lawyer yesterday, it reserved the verdict for today.
Sethy's counsel had moved the bail petition in the upper court after a rejection on the same from the CBI court here. The CBI had earlier filed a charge sheet against the AT Group, which is one of the major players in the money laundering scam.
The CBI counsel opposed the bail plea, arguing that the investigation of the central agency was still on and Sethy was the main accused in the case. Sources said the bureau would file a supplementary charge sheet in connection with the scam next week.
The CBI, so far, has arrested 16 persons, including Banki MLA Pravat Tripathy, in connection with the scam. Though the company had allegedly swindled around Rs 1,200 crore from thousands of investors, the preliminary charge sheet, filed by the CBI in March, mentioned the fraud worth Rs 578.2 crore.
Banker suspended
A private bank official, who had allegedly molested a female employee of the same organisation, was suspended today.
"A case of inappropriate behaviour by a male employee has been received from one of our female employees in Bhubaneswar. The accused has been suspended with immediate effect. The bank's internal committee, formed according to the prescribed laws and consisting of senior female officials from within and outside the firm, will investigate the matter," the statement read.
On March 30, the 29-year-old female employee had lodged a complaint of sexual harassment at Saheed Nagar police station. The woman said that her boss had been harassing her for the past two years.
"We have registered a case and served a notice to the senior bank official. Further investigation is in process," said Saheed Nagar police station inspector in-charge Deepak Kumar Mishra.
