The Orissa High Court on Wednesday granted conditional bail to arrested Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Kumar Panigrahi, who was suspended from the ruling BJD following his arrest by the State crime branch on December 3 last year.
Once considered to be a trusted lieutenant of BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik, the MLA was arrested for allegedly duping several job aspirants by collecting nearly ₹50 lakhs from them on the promise of giving jobs to them in the Tata Motors.
More arrests
Panigrahi reportedly hoodwinked the local unemployed youths in cahoots with Akash Pathak, son of an IFS officer who claimed to be working as an MD with the Tata company. Akash and his father Abhaya Pathak were also arrested in connection with the case.
