By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, February 8, 2017 : Odisha government on Wednesday moved the a special court at Cuttack for the confiscation of properties worth over Rs 4 crore of Hi-Tech Group.

The Cuttack district administration, which has been appointed the receiver of confiscated properties of various chit fund companies, has approached a special court here seeking an order to sell attached properties of Hi-Tech Group of Companies.

Additional District Magistrate (ADM) Raghuram Aiyer has filed a petition before the special court praying for attachment of more than 55 acres of land belonging to the High-Tech Group of Companies.

The Company is now entangled in land fraud cases. The Company’s plots located in Puri, Pipili and Bhubaneswar are estimated to be worth over Rs 4.5 crore, special public prosecutor Subrat Mohanty said.

The state finance department had on November 30 last year issued an ad interim order for attachment of movable and immovable properties of Hi-Tech Group while vesting management of these properties with the Competent Authority.

The properties include Hi-Tech Hospital, Hi-Tech Dental College, the Group’s corporate office at Saheed Nagar and plots of land under different projects of the Group at Sundarpada.

It’s worthwhile to mention that the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch had registered five cases against Hi-Tech Group’s Chairman Tirupati Panigrahi and two other directors Tirupati Choudhury and Madhusudan Panigrahi. There were allegations against the Group of having defrauded depositors with a promise to provide them with the land.

Later, the EOW had seized the Group’s corporate office building, medical college, dental college, nursing college, land at other places and bank pass books.

      Tirupati Panigrahi

It may be recalled here that the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Crime Branch had registered five cases against Tirupati Panigrahi, Tirupati Choudhury, and Madhusudan Panigrahi, respectively the Managing Director and Directors of Hi-Tech Group of Companies for cheating large number of innocent depositors by making false promises of providing plots under various schemes in and around Bhubaneswar.

The total land to be seized is up to the tune of 146.131 acre. The land which have been ordered for confiscation include the Hi-Tech Medical College in Pandara, Dental College, Nursing school, college & hospital, Physiotherapy college, corporate office at Sahid Nagar, and several project lands belonging to the Group in Sundarpada area.

Two bank accounts containing funds worth over Rs 2 crore will also be confiscated.

According to sources, the total cost of the properties could be over Rs 150 crore.

On the other hand, Rs 63 crore deposited by the Group with the Supreme Court has been transferred to the Special Chit Fund Court.

On December 25, 2012, the EOW arrested Panigrahi and Hi-Tech Group directors Tirupati Choudhury and Madhusudan Panigrahi for allegedly cheating land buyers by over Rs 315 crores.