Minister Feigns Ignorance On CBI Grilling His Son

Bhubaneswar: Cooperation minister Surya Narayan Patro on Friday was left red-faced following interrogation of his son Biplab by the CBI in the Artha Tatwa chit fund scam the previous day.

“I have no information. I only came to know about it from the media today. I spoke to the CBI officers, but they did not tell me anything,” said Patro told mediapersons here.

The central investigating agency had grilled Biplab on Thursday in connection with his alleged links with the Ponzi firm.

The CBI, in course of its investigation, had come to know that a payment was made from the bank accounts of Artha Tatwa towards the purchase of computers for a company run by Biplab.

Since Patro is a minister, the AT Group might have shown undue favour to his son, sources said.

However, Biplap was not available for comments.

Speculation is rife that the minister, in an attempt to influence the investigation and bail out his son, might have spoken to the CBI officers.