Panda diverted Rs 30L into Odia song albums: Police

BHUBANESWAR: Former AT Group director Jagabandhu Panda, arrested on Monday in connection with the multi-crore money circulation scam, had allegedly invested nearly Rs 30 lakh in two Odia song albums. The shooting of the songs was to be held in Manali, police sources said.
"We will bring him on remand for questioning to know where did he divert the public deposits.We have information that he had put in lakhs of rupees in Odia albums and movies," a senior police officer told TOI.
Panda, director of controversial Swastik India, had a penchant for glitz and glamour and developed close proximity with several Ollywood and Bollywood stars. TOI possesses some photographs where the controversial Swastik India director is seen rubbing shoulders with several Ollywood actors and producers at the Mahurat of an upcoming Odia film.
The film's producer Pupinder Singh, also a popular actor, said, "Panda approached me to finance the movie during the Mahurat, a couple of months ago, and had attended the photo session. But we had already arranged for financier from elsewhere. He is in no way associated with the movie."
Diversion of chit fund deposits into movies is nothing new. Police earlier suspected that actor-cum-director Naseer Khan, who is accused of embezzling nearly Rs 500 crore public deposits through his chit fund company in Balasore in 2009, allegedly invested huge money in his film Shadow.
City-based film producer Triveni Mohanty was arrested here in 2011 for allegedly making some movies from the hard-earned deposits of people. Mohanty had floated a money circulation company and collected lakhs of rupees with a false promise of doubling the investments overnight. Another chit fund company, Sai Pragati Assets and Properties Limited, now under the Crime Branch glare for allegedly duping investors of crores of rupees, was also accused of diverting public money into an Odia movie.