JOIN USThe Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, on Tuesday announced the creation of a corpus fund of Rs 300 crore for the victims of the multi crore chit fund scam in the state.
Patnaik also announced the name of Justice R K Patra, a former chief justice of the Sikkim High Court who also earlier held the post of chairperson of the Odisha Human Rights Commission to head the commission of an inquiry appointed by the state government to probe the mega scam.
“We have set up a corpus fund for the scam victims and have also appointed Justice Patra to head the commission of the inquiry. We will make sure nobody involved in the scam is spared,” the chief minister said in a statement.
Earlier, the state government had announced that the inquiry would be conducted by a sitting judge of the Orissa High Court. However, it opted for a retired judge after the high court refused to spare any sitting judge for the purpose.
The economic offence wing of the state police crime branch is already investigating the scam. According to crime branch sources, so far as many as 228 cases had already been registered in different police stations across the state against 127 tainted chit fund companies.
315 people have also been arrested so far in connection with the scam. These chit fund companies have duped nearly seven-lakh investors and the total scam amount is estimated at about Rs 4,375 crore, a crime branch source said.