Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government today extended the tenure of the Justice MM Das Commission of Inquiry, which is probing into the multi-crore chit fund scam in Odisha and has been entrusted with the responsibility of identifying duped investors who will be refunded by the State government. The State government extended by the tenure of the commission, which is due to end on February 4, by six months.
According to sources, the Justice MM Das Commission of Inquiry was initially formed with a stipulated tenure of four years, but its term has now been extended to 54 months.
Meanwhile, the deadline for receipt of affidavits from depositors duped by chit fund companies ended on January 31.
On the other hand, the Convenor of Milita Khyatigrasta Jamakari Mancha, Jayant Das said that the State government should ensure that the depositors get back their money by February 15. He also threatened that the outfit will launch protests from February 19 in case the government fails to return the money by February 15.
"If our deposits are not returned by February 15, we will take up agitation in Bhubaneswar from the 19th of this month," Das said.
From the affidavits received, the Commission has so far identified 2,18,354 small depositors with deposits of less than Rs 10,000. Some chit fund companies have also returned money to as many as 1,485 depositors.