Bhubaneswar: The Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) court late Thursday night remanded Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Panigrahi to judicial custody for 14 days. Panigrahi was arrested for his alleged involvement in a job fraud racket. Currently Panigrahi is lodged in Jharpada jail. Earlier the BJD had expelled Panigrahi and cancelled his primary membership of the party for his alleged anti-people activities. Panigrahi had applied for bail as he is suffering from high blood pressure and diabetes.
Crime Branch officials arrested Panigrahi in connection with a job fraud case. The complaint was lodged by Tata Motors at the Cyber Police Station. He was picked up from his residence here for interrogation.
The Crime Branch announced the developments on its Twitter handle. “Hon’ble MLA Dr Pradip Kumar Panigrahi is being questioned in connection with CID CB Cyber Crime PS case no 26/2020,” it tweeted. However, it did not mention the place where he is being questioned.
Tata Motors officials had lodged a complaint accusing Akash Pathak — son of suspended IFS officer Abhay Kant Pathak — of duping several job aspirants on the pretext of providing them with jobs in the automobile major. Akash allegedly duped 67 persons from Gopalpur by impersonating as the managing director of the company.
The Crime Branch in a statement claimed that Panigrahi was collecting money from various people on behalf of Akash.
PNN