Karnataka government forms SIT to probe alleged Ponzi scheme fraud
Bengaluru: An 11-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed by the Karnataka government to probe the alleged financial fraud perpetrated by an investment firm here, leaving thousands of investors in the lurch.
The owner of the city-based IMA Jewellers, Mohammed Mansoor Khan, disappeared two days ago, after allegedly threatening to commit suicide.
The police have formed teams to trace him. Most of the investors in Khan's firm are Muslims.
Chief minister H D Kumaraswamy tweeted on Wednesday, saying the SIT would be headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police B R Ravikanthe Gowda.
The other members of the team are Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) S Girish, Additional Commissioner of Police of the Central Crime Branch Balaraju and deputy commissioners of police K Ravishankar, Raja Imam Kasim and Abdul Khadar.
The SIT will have five police inspectors too. The police have registered a case against IMA Jewellers and Khan.
The investors camped at IMA Jewellers' office at Shivajinagar here for the third consecutive day, waiting for some progress in the case and to build pressure on the police and the government to get their money back.
Meanwhile, senior Congress MLA from Shivajinagar and former state minister R Roshan Baig charged that his political adversaries had orchestrated the "series of events" to tarnish his character.
His accusation was based on an audio clip purportedly containing the voice of Khan, in which he alleged that he had paid Rs 400 crore to Baig, which he did not return.
The audio clip has gone viral on the social media.
Rubbishing the charge, Baig tweeted: "After my recent political fallouts, some of my adversaries have made a full-fledged attempt at assassinating my character by orchestrating a series of events using underhand methods. The entire hit job has been carried out using a baseless, un-investigated audio recording."
Baig, who aspires for a ministerial position, had recently rebelled against his party and held former chief minister Siddaramaiah and state Congress president Dinesh Gundu Rao responsible for the party's poor show in the Lok Sabha election.
The Congress MLA urged the government to get the matter investigated by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
He suspected the involvement of a Congress leader, who, he alleged, was sending people to mingle with the crowd gathered outside IMA Jewellers' office.
"I was informed that a good chunk of people seen at the protests outside IMA Jewels was mobilised to mix with the people who were actually aggrieved to intensify the situation by a politician who has been trying very hard to become the 'face of the community'," Baig tweeted.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) too demanded a CBI inquiry.
"Is the government not able to see the sufferings of the investors? Doesn't it have eyes, ears and a heart? It should get the accused arrested if it has the guts or else, it should hand over the matter to the CBI," BJP MLA Eshwarappa said.
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Centre spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print media ads for RSS centenary, reveals RTI
New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Culture allegedly spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print advertisements marking the 100-year celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), according to a Right to Information (RTI) reply.
The information was sought by RTI activist Ajay Basudev Bose, who filed an application seeking details on expenditure incurred by the ministry for advertisements commemorating the RSS centenary.
Bose shared a picture of the reply from the ministry on his official ‘X’ handle.
“It is informed that an amount of Rs 76,13,129 has been spent on advertisement given in various print media by the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of the completion of 100 years of RSS,” the government’s reply stated.
RTI reply shows Min of Culture Govt of India spent a Whopping Rs 76L,13K,129 on Advertisement in Print Media on occasion of 100 yrs of #RSS
— AJAY Basudev Bose (@AjayBos93388306) April 16, 2026
When Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??@RSSorg… pic.twitter.com/dW4IUtdNCg
Bose questioned the expenditure in the post X, “when Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??”
Reacting to the development, Karnataka’s IT-BT and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge also criticised the spending.
In a post on X, he asked why public money was being used for what he described as a “private ideological project.”
"Modi Sarkar spent Rs 76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS. Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to celebrate their centenary?," he added.
Why is public money being used to serve a private ideological project?
— Priyank Kharge / ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ (@PriyankKharge) April 16, 2026
Modi Sarkar spent ₹76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS.
Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to… pic.twitter.com/EoZ6Pim3IM
According to reports, the RSS describes itself as a volunteer-based organisation and has stated that it functions as a body of individuals rather than a registered entity.
Founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, the organisation is marking its centenary year beginning from Vijaydashami in 2025, with the milestone observed on October 2.
