Panda was arrested by the CBI on December 19. His bail plea was rejected by the special CBI court on December 24. He is currently lodged in Jharpada jail. Pramod Panda, a former DSP of Crime Branch in Odisha, was posted as DSP, District Intelligence Bureau (DIB), Nayagarh when he was arrested.
Panda reportedly used his clout to save Pradeep Sethy on many occasions and even influenced the Crime Branch probe to a great extent. His wife Gitanjali, was running a computer centre named ZICA in Bhubaneswar, which received huge funds from AT Group chief Pradeep Sethy.