Tripura chit fund case: 3 Pragati Sheel officials get 6-year jail term
Synopsis
More than a decade after the original complaint, a Special CBI Court in West Tripura has sentenced the CMD and two directors of Pragati Sheel Infra Projects to six years' rigorous imprisonment for defrauding public depositors of up to ₹6 crore. The court also ordered that realised fines be distributed proportionately to the victims — a rare relief mechanism in such cases.
Key Takeaways
A Special CBI Court, West Tripura District , convicted Pragati Sheel Infra Projects and Services Limited and three of its officials on Saturday .
Arindam Das (CMD), Paritosh Das (Director), and Dipshikha Chakraborty (Administrative Director) each received 6 years' Rigorous Imprisonment and a fine of ₹3 lakh .
The company was separately fined ₹7 lakh .
The accused misappropriated public deposits worth ₹5–6 crore ; the case was originally filed in 2012 and taken over by the CBI in 2013 .
The court directed the District Magistrate, Unakoti District, Kailashahar to distribute realised fine amounts proportionately to identified depositors who lost money.
A Special CBI Court in West Tripura District on Saturday sentenced three senior officials of Pragati Sheel Infra Projects and Services Limited to six years' Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) each, along with a fine of ₹3 lakh per person, for defrauding public depositors of between ₹5 crore and ₹6 crore in the Tripura chit fund case. The court also convicted the company itself and imposed a separate fine of ₹7 lakh on the firm.
Who Was Convicted
The three individuals sentenced are Arindam Das, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD); Paritosh Das, Director; and Dipshikha Chakraborty, Administrative Director of Pragati Sheel Infra Projects and Services Limited. All three were found guilty of misappropriating deposits collected from members of the general public who did not receive refunds on their invested amounts.
How the Case Unfolded
The case originated as Kailashahar Police Station Case No. 90/2012, registered on 30 April 2012. Following notifications from the Tripura government and the Department of Personnel and Training, Government of India, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) re-registered and took over the matter on 8 October 2013. After completing its investigation, the CBI filed a chargesheet on 28 May 2018 against all four accused — the three individuals and the company.
What the Court Ordered on Victim Relief
The Special Judge (CBI), West Tripura District, directed that any fine amounts realised from the convicts be forwarded to competent authorities for proportionate distribution among the aggrieved depositors. The court specifically tasked the District Magistrate and Collector, Unakoti District, Kailashahar, with overseeing the distribution across relevant sub-divisions. The court further requested competent authorities to recover the defrauded amount from attached assets, to the extent practicable under law, and distribute it proportionately to identified depositors and investors who had not recovered their money.
Broader Context
The Tripura chit fund fraud is part of a wider pattern of deposit-collection scams that affected several northeastern and eastern Indian states in the early 2010s, many of which were subsequently handed to the CBI for investigation. This conviction, coming over a decade after the original complaint, underscores the extended timelines that typically characterise such financial fraud prosecutions in India. The case had been under CBI scrutiny for more than 11 years before the verdict was delivered.
Point of View
But the harder question is whether the attached assets are sufficient to meaningfully compensate victims. India's chit fund enforcement record shows convictions remain rare and recoveries rarer still.
NationPress
6 Aug 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Tripura chit fund case?
The Tripura chit fund case involves Pragati Sheel Infra Projects and Services Limited, whose officials allegedly collected deposits from the public and failed to refund them, misappropriating between ₹5 crore and ₹6 crore. The case was originally registered at Kailashahar Police Station in 2012 and later taken over by the CBI in 2013.
Who were sentenced in the Tripura chit fund verdict?
The three individuals sentenced are Arindam Das (CMD), Paritosh Das (Director), and Dipshikha Chakraborty (Administrative Director) of Pragati Sheel Infra Projects and Services Limited. Each received six years' Rigorous Imprisonment and a fine of ₹3 lakh; the company itself was fined ₹7 lakh.
Will defrauded depositors get their money back?
The Special CBI Court directed that fine amounts realised from the convicts be distributed proportionately among identified depositors who did not recover their investments. The District Magistrate and Collector of Unakoti District, Kailashahar, has been tasked with overseeing this distribution; the court also asked authorities to recover funds from attached assets as far as practicable under law.
How long did the CBI investigation take?
The CBI re-registered the case on 8 October 2013 and filed its chargesheet on 28 May 2018 — nearly five years of investigation. The verdict came several years after the chargesheet, meaning the full legal process spanned over a decade from the original 2012 complaint.
Is this part of a larger chit fund crackdown?
Yes. The Tripura case is part of a broader wave of chit fund fraud investigations across northeastern and eastern India from the early 2010s, many of which were transferred to the CBI following state and central government notifications. Several similar cases remain at various stages of trial across the region.
