CBI granted transit remand of Prayag CMD

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was granted transit remand of Chairman and Managing Director of Prayag Group, Basudeb Bagchi and his son Avik Bagchi when produced before the Bidhannagar Court on Thursday afternoon as officers of the agency will move to Bhubaneswar for further investigation.

CBI arrested both of them on Wednesday on charges of collecting money through various chit fund schemes. They were arrested in connection with a money laundering case that was lodged against them in Odisha. According to a CBI officer, though Prayag Group had initiated its business of collecting money through various chit fund schemes in Kolkata and its adjoining districts, the group had collected crores of rupees in a similar manner from people in Odisha as well.

Like all other chit fund groups, Prayag Group also collected money through chit fund schemes by assuring high rate of returns. It is learnt that the investigating officers would be interrogating them to get details of the money trail. The CBI officers have also got documents in their hands which show how the group had made unplanned investments of the money they had collected from people through chit fund schemes.

The CMD and his son will be asked about the investments that they had undertaken to spread their business to different sectors and about the investment they had made to develop the Rs 1,000 crore project of Prayag Film City at Chandrakona in West Midnapore.

The CBI officers will also interrogate the duo about the places from where they had collected the maximum amount of money.