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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Go back to middle school or consult eye doctor: Chidambaram to BJP leaders criticising manifesto
New Delhi (PTI): Taking a swipe at the BJP for criticising the Congress manifesto, party leader P Chidambaram on Monday said that if the ruling party leaders read the words 'generation of wealth' as 'redistribution of wealth', they should either go back to middle school or consult an eye doctor.
Chidambaram, who headed the committee that drafted the Congress manifesto, said his party is committed to rapid growth and generation of wealth.
"Congress' Manifesto makes the following statements and promises on wealth - industrial and business policies and regulations will be designed to facilitate the production of goods and services in larger volumes and higher values," the former finance minister said.
All laws and rules that inhibit free and fair trade will be reviewed and changed, he said.
"If the UPA had continued in office, the economy would have doubled again and stood at Rs 200 lakh crore in 2023-24," Chidambaram said.
The Congress is committed to rapid growth and generation of wealth, he said.
"We have set a target of doubling the GDP in the next 10 years," the Congress leader said.
"If the BJP leaders read the words 'generation of wealth' as 'redistribution of wealth', they should either go back to middle school or consult an eye doctor," Chidambaram said, taking a dig at the BJP.
Last week, Chidambaram had said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has imagined a Congress manifesto written by one of his ghost speech writers and he should debate the real issues included in the document.
Chidambaram's remarks come amid repeated attacks by the prime minister over Congress leader Sam Pitroda's 'inheritance tax' comments amid the row on the issue of 'wealth redistribution'.
