It is our responsibility to ensure that innocents who have lost their money get it back: BSY
Bengaluru: The Karnataka BJP Saturday RPT Saturday demanded a CBI probe into the alleged financial fraud perpetrated by an investment firm here, leaving thousands of investors in the lurch.
The owner of city-based IMA Jewels, Mohammed Mansoor Khan, had disappeared few days ago after allegedly threatening to commit suicide while police have formed teams to trace him.
State BJP chief B S Yedyurappa put forth the demand for a probe by the central agency after a group of people belonging to the minority community, most of them investors in IMA Jewels, met him and submitted a petition.
Yeddyurappa assured them that BJP MPs from Karnataka would ensure the central governments intervention and steps to ensure the Enforcement Directorate probe into the case.
"We (BJP) feel that it is our responsibility to ensure that innocents who have lost their money get it back," Yeddyurappa was quoted as saying by BJP in a release.
Only a CBI inquiry can ensure justice to the affected investors, he said, as he held the state government responsible for the "injustice" to the IMA investors.
The BJP leader also promised those who met him that the centre would take all steps to find out the whereabouts of IMA jewels owner Mohammed Mansoor Khan.
Earlier, speaking to reporters, Yeddyurappa raised questions about Minority welfare minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan's alleged links with Mohammed Mansoor Khan.
"While asking him (Mansoor) to come back, Zameer, who is a Minister, has said that government is with you (Mansoor), don’t fear- what does this mean? Chief Minister has to answer this," he said.
Hitting back at Yeddyurappa, Zameer Ahmed Khan pointed out that it was he who took initiative after the incident came to light and sought a SIT probe.
"It was not Yeddyurappa. Making speeches sitting somewhere is not enough. We are doing whatever we can. SIT is probing...," he said.
Nearly 30,000 complaints have so far been received by police in connection with the case, relating to which seven directors of the firm were apprehended on June 12 .
Mohammed Mansoor Khan went absconding after allegedly threatening to commit suicide in an audio clip.
As the audio went viral, panicked investors, most of them Muslims, had swarmed the firm's office at Shivajinagar in thousands, demanding action against the owner and directors.
Khan in an audio clip had purportedly said he was committing suicide as he was fed up with corruption.
He had also alleged the Shivajinagar Congress MLA Roshan Baig took Rs 400 crore from him and was not returning it.
Baig had rubbished the charge, alleging that his political adversaries had orchestrated the "series of events" to tarnish his character.
On June 12, The Karnataka government had formed a 11-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case.
As reports emerged that Khan had fled to Dubai, the SIT had said they were investigating his whereabouts.
The Enforcement Directorate also filed a case of money laundering in the alleged ponzi scheme.
The agency's zonal office here filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), equivalent to an FIR, and has pressed criminal charges under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), officials had said.
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Bus helper held for stealing USD 1,600 from Iranian woman's purse in Delhi; money recovered
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi Police has arrested a bus helper and recovered USD 1,600 that was allegedly stolen from the purse of an Iranian woman who had forgotten it on a private bus at ISBT Kashmere Gate, an official said on Sunday.
The incident came to light on December 15, when a complaint was lodged at the ISBT Kashmere Gate police post by Dr Ali Akbar Shah, a professor at Delhi University and a resident of Mukherjee Nagar, the police said.
He informed police that his guest, Fareshteh Sayanjali, an Iranian national, had arrived in India on December 13 and was staying at his residence, they said.
The woman had travelled to Uttarakhand's Rishikesh and was returning to Delhi on December 15 in a bus. While de-boarding at ISBT Kashmere Gate around 1.45 pm, she inadvertently left her purse on the bus seat, the police officer said.
After some time, she received a phone call from the bus operator informing her that the purse had been found in the vehicle. However, when the purse was handed back to her, she discovered that USD 1,600 in cash kept inside was missing," the officer added.
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Based on Dr Shah's statement, an FIR was registered at Kashmere Gate police station on December 16, and an investigation was taken up, police said.
During the investigation, the team questioned the driver and conductor of the bus in which the woman had travelled, police said.
During questioning, the conductor told police that Monish, the bus helper, found the purse lying abandoned on a seat and handed it over to him, police said.
Monish initially attempted to mislead the investigators, but later confessed to stealing the US dollars from the purse, police said
Following his disclosure, Monish was arrested on December 17 and recovered the entire stolen amount, police said.
The accused, Monish, 26, is a resident of Jahangirpuri in north Delhi.
He has studied up to Class 10 and has been working as a helper with the private bus service for the past year, they said.
