Crime Branch freezes bank account of Sai Pragati

BHUBANESWAR: The Crime Branch police on Tuesday froze 14 bank accounts of two fraud companies Sai Pragati Assets and Properties (SPAP) and S Virgin Worldwide Concept and attached Rs 2, 71, 35,193 from the companies’ bank account. The Crime Branch is investigating into the companies’ secret investment in other States or share market, police sources said.

The Economic Offence Wing of the Crime Branch seized the money from four bank accounts of the two allied companies. “Our team is investigating into the matter. If we get any information about the companies’ money deposited or invested anywhere, we would freeze that account immediately,” said an official of the Crime Branch police.

The police had arrested Sai Pragati and S Virgin’s CMD Debasish Mohanty for cheating the investors of his company and one of the associate directors of the companies Surath Kumar Sahoo surrendered before the court in the case.    

“Many accounts are there to seize,” said an investor of the company Aniruddha Mahapatra adding, “we again start public protest against the fraud company. The companies cheated the investors, so the Government should take appropriate action against the cheaters and fraudulent companies,” he added.

It may be noted that the investors on March 15 this year staged a dharna at Lower PMG here demanding a high level inquiry into the Real Estate fraud case. In their memorandum to the Chief Minister on the day, they had urged him to intervene into the matter.

In that memorandum, the investors had alleged that CMD Debasish Mohanty, Associate Directors Nirmal Prasad Padhy, Ashwin Kumar Das, Surath Kumar Sahoo and Kamalakant Patnaik of the company were involved in the cheating of Rs 600 crore from its investors. More than 85,000 investors were affected due to the fraud, they had alleged.