CBI arrests alleged kingpin in Tripura chit fund fraud from West Bengal

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested the alleged kingpin of a multi-crore chit fund fraud in Tripura from West Bengal’s Nadia district, ending more than a decade-long search for the accused.

The agency said Tapan Pramanik, who had been declared a proclaimed offender in January 2023, was taken into custody on Sunday following detailed field verification, surveillance and analysis of call detail records. He was produced before a court in Nadia to seek transit remand for his transfer to Tripura.

Pramanik had been absconding since 2012 in connection with a case involving the fraudulent collection of between Rs 3 crore and Rs 4 crore from investors in Tripura. According to the CBI, the money was raised through agents on the promise of lucrative investment returns, but was later misappropriated.

The case was originally registered by the CBI in October 2013 against Pramanik, a director of MPS Agro-Animal Projects Ltd, and others, following notifications from both the Tripura government and the Centre. After completing its investigation, the agency filed a charge sheet in October 2015 and a supplementary charge sheet in May 2019.

Despite repeated summons and the issuance of arrest warrants by a special CBI court in Gomati district, Tripura, Pramanik failed to appear during the investigation and trial. He was formally declared a proclaimed offender by the court in January last year.

The CBI said sustained efforts were made to trace him over the years, but he remained untraceable until his arrest in Nadia.

MPS Agro-Animal Projects Ltd, the company at the centre of the case, is a public unlisted firm incorporated in December 2008 and based in Santipur, Nadia district. It operates in the agriculture and allied sectors, offering services typically carried out on a contract or fee basis.

The investigation into the chit fund fraud and related proceedings are continuing.

With IANS inputs