MLA Pravat Biswal arrested by CBI in Seashore land fruad

Bhubaneswar: After a lull of almost three years, the CBI on Tuesday arrested Cuttack-Choudwar MLA Pravat Biswal of the ruling BJD for his alleged involvement in the multi-crore chit fund scam in Odisha.

The legislator was summoned by the CBI on Monday night for further questioning in connection with a land deal with Seashore Group of Companies and later taken into custody around 2 am, family sources said.

Pravat and his wife Laxmi Bilasini Biswal, a former zilla parishad president, were quizzed by CBI several times in the past regarding the land deal.

According to reports, the Seashore Group wanted to purchase a land measuring 32 ‘gunthas’ from Laxmi Bilasini at Benapur village of Jajpur district in 2011 and deposited Rs 25 lakh in Pravat’s account for the same. However, the deal was later cancelled and the company demanded the money back. Pravat and her wife, who denied any links in the scam, claimed to have returned the amount.

In January this year, CBI officials had conducted simultaneous raids on Pravat’s residences in Bhubanewar and Cuttack.

Pravat’s arrest has come as a major setback for the ruling party in Cuttack district as the CBI in October 2014 had arrested another BJD MLA Pravat Kumar Tripathy, representing Banki Assembly constituency, for his alleged links with another chit fund company. The Banki MLA is out on bail now.