Investors throng jewellery store as owner 'disappears' in Bengaluru
Audio clip of owner goes viral
Bengaluru, Jun 10: Hundreds of investors thronged a prominent city jewellery store Monday after an audio clip surfaced where a person alleged to be the owner is heard saying he is going to commit suicide as he was fed up with corruption.
The owner was also into the chit fund business.
As soon the audio went viral, investors including a large number of women with their children started gathering at the IMAJewellers headquarters at Shivajinagar near here demanding action against Mohammed Mansur Khan, the owner.
The person is heard addressing police that he was committing suicide as he was fed up withcorruption in the state and central government.
In the audio, he is also heard accusing central and state officials of harassing him, compelling him to take the extreme step.
He also asks police to sell all his wealth and jewellery to pay investors and is heard accusing a politician of taking Rs 400 crore from him and not returning it.
Investors claimed they had invested crores in the firm.
Police have deployed adequate force around the jewellery shop to prevent any untoward incidents.
Deputy commissioner of police of Bengaluru East division Rahul Kumar Shahapurwad appealed to investors to lodge complaints with police with whatever proof they have.
He also made it clear that they have no information about Khan and asked people not to jump to any conclusion.
Police suspect that at least 26,000 investors from across Karnataka have been cheated.
Meanwhile, police have sounded alert at airport, bus-standand railway station to track the jeweller.
Police and investors said his mobile phone has been switched off and he is not traceable.
".... He has switched off his mobile phone and he is untraceable," commercial street police inspector B K Shekhar said.
Gultaz Banu, an investor, claimed she had invested about Rs nine lakh in the company.
"Since he was paying very high returns we relied on him. I sold all my jewellery to deposit in his company. Today I am left with nothing," Banu said.
Most of those who invested in the company belong to the minority community, working as auto rickshaw drivers, beedi manufacturers, carpenters and street vendors, police said.
Two years ago, the income tax department had conducted searches at the IMA business establishments.
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Indian visa application centre suspended indefinitely in Bangladesh's Chattogram
Dhaka (PTI): India on Sunday suspended visa operations at its mission in Bangladeshi port city of Chattogram until further notice, according to media reports.
The move comes in the wake of a fresh wave of unrest witnessed in the country following the death of prominent youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi.
His death triggered attacks and vandalism across Bangladesh, including stone-hurling at the Assistant Indian High Commissioner's residence in Chattogram on Thursday.
Hadi, a prominent leader of the student-led protests last year that led to the ouster of the prime minister Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government, was a candidate for the scheduled February 12 general elections.
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He was shot in the head on December 12 by masked gunmen at an election campaign in central Dhaka’s Bijoynagar area and died while undergoing treatment in Singapore on December 18.
“Due to the recent security incident at Assistant High Commission of India (AHCI) Chittagong, Indian visa operations at IVAC Chittagong (Chattogram) will remain suspended from 21/12/2025 until further notice,” the Indian Visa Application Centre (IVAC) said in a brief statement.
The announcement for reopening the visa centre will be made after reviewing the situation, the statement added. The decision came into effect on Sunday.
There are five IVAC facilities across Bangladesh at Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Chattogram and Sylhet. An IVAC official told PTI that the other four offices have remained operational as of Sunday.
India on Thursday resumed operations at its visa application centre in Dhaka, a day after closing it over escalated security concerns, but closed for a brief period two other identical facilities in Rajshahi and Khulna as anti-India protestors tried to march towards the Indian missions there.
On Saturday, security was strengthened at the Indian Assistant High Commission office and the visa application centre in Bangladesh's Sylhet city.
The enhanced security measures were put in place to ensure that “no third party can exploit the situation,” Additional Deputy Commissioner (Media) of the Sylhet Metropolitan Police Saiful Islam was quoted as saying by The Dhaka Tribune newspaper on Saturday.
Hadi, 32, was laid to rest on Saturday amid extra-tight security beside the grave of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam near the Dhaka University mosque.
Tens of thousands of people attended the funeral prayers, and ahead of the ritual, chanted anti-India slogans like “Delhi or Dhaka - Dhaka, Dhaka” and “brother Hadi’s blood will not be allowed to go in vain.”
Earlier on December 17, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) summoned Bangladesh envoy Riaz Hamidullah and conveyed its strong concern over certain extremist elements announcing plans to create a security situation around the Indian mission in Dhaka.
“We expect the interim government to ensure the safety of Missions and Posts in Bangladesh in keeping with its diplomatic obligations,” it said.
The envoy was apprised of India's strong concerns about the deteriorating security environment in Bangladesh, it added.
