CBI arrests offender in Tripura chit fund scam case

REGIONAL: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Sunday arrested Tapan Pramanik, who was declared a Proclaimed Offender by the Court of Special Judge in Gomati District, Tripura in a Chit Fund Scam case. Pramanik had been on the run since 2012. 

The CBI registered the case on October 8, 2013 against Pramanik who is the Director of M/s MPS Agro-Animal Projects Ltd and others following notifications from the Tripura and central governments. It is alleged that the accused, through agents, fraudulently collected large sums of money amounting to Rs 3 to 4 Crore from the public, promising to invest the funds, but instead misappropriated them. 

After completing the investigation, the CBI filed a Charge-sheet on October 13, 2015 and a Supplementary Charge-sheet on May 31, 2019 against Pramanik and others. However, Pramanik did not cooperate with the investigation and was declared an absconder. 

A warrant for his arrest was issued by the Court, but he could not be apprehended. On January 16, 2023, the Court declared Pramanik a Proclaimed Offender (PO). 

Despite persistent efforts to locate him during the trial, he remained untraceable. However, based on information gathered through field verification, physical surveillance and thorough analysis of Call Detail Records (CDRs), the CBI was able to arrest Pramanik Sunday in Nadia District, West Bengal. 

He will be produced before the jurisdictional Court in Nadia District for a transit warrant and then brought before the CBI Special Court in Agartala, the central agency informed in a statement.