Ex-OCA secy Ashirbad Behera gets bail in chit fund scam

Bhubaneswar, Nov 26 (IANS) Former secretary of Odisha Cricket Association (OCA) Ashirbad Behera on Tuesday got conditional bail from Orissa High Court in the Artha Tatwa (AT) group chit fund scam.Behera will surrender his passport, cooperate with the ongoing CBI probe and furnish two sureties of Rs 1.5 lakh in the court, informed Behera's lawyer.The ex-OCA secretary was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) from his residence in Cuttack on September 19 over his alleged involvement in the Artha Tatwa chit fund scam.CBI had arrested Behera on the basis of a non-bailable warrant issued by the court.Earlier, the CBI had interrogated Behera several times after allegations on his links with the AT Group.Notably, the CBI had filed a supplementary chargesheet against Behera under several sections of IPC and Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978.The CBI, in its chargesheet, alleged that Behera has promoted the AT Group of Companies in the garb of sponsorship of the Odisha Ranji team and title sponsorship of Odisha Premier League, 2011.
--IANS cd/sdr/kr