Police set up special counter at Udayagiri to receive plaints

Mysore: Just a day after the Mysuru City Police requested investors of Bengaluru-based blade company ‘I Monetary Advisory (IMA)’ to register complaints at their jurisdictional Police Station limits, cheated investors have so far filed more than 500 cases against the company.

The number of complainants is growing by the hour and considering the seriousness of the fraud and the amount involved, the City Police have set up a special counter at Jabbar Function Hall at Udayagiri close to Udayagiri Police Station to receive the complaints.  

As the nature of complaints is almost the same, the Police have prepared a formatted application for filing complaints and are issuing acknowledgements. The formatted applications will enable the victims to lodge complaints in a hassle-free way and the complainants are required to mention only their name, residential address the amount of money invested and the dates of investment.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy yesterday announced the formation of an 11-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) led by Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police B.R. Ravikanthegowda to probe the multi-crore IMA scam.  

More than 500 persons from city, most of them residents of Kalyanagiri, Rajiv Nagar, Azeez Sait Nagar, Sathagalli Layout, Bannimantap, Udayagiri, Mandi Mohalla and Nazarbad have invested in the fraud company whose owner Mohammad Mansoor Khan is absconding now.

A majority of the investors have invested anywhere between Rs. 2 lakh and Rs. 19 lakh each in the firm. As IMA investors are coming forward to lodge complaints, Ameen Sait and Zeeshan, social workers from Udayagiri have taken the initiative of guiding the cheated investors to lodge complaints. A WhatsApp group under the head ‘IMA victims group’ has been formed to bring together all the cheated victims of Mysuru.

K. Abdul Ejaz and Sabeera Khatum couple from Udayagiri has invested a whopping Rs. 19 lakh while Moheen Taj, a retired school teacher, has invested Rs. 16 lakh, Noor Zaiba from Kalyanagiri Rs. 10 lakh, Abdul Jameel also of Kalyanagiri Rs. 6 lakh, Kaleem of Shantinagar Rs. 3 lakh. Farath Jahan has been cheated of Rs. 2 lakh. Some of the victims, expecting high returns, have borrowed money to invest in IMA jewels, lured by the firm’s offer of attractive returns.

Many poor and middle class families from Muslim community had invested in the firm. Some families have pledged gold and diamond jewellery to invest.

Former Corporator Shoukath Pasha, speaking to SOM, said Islam prohibits interest money. As such, IMA Jewels announced profit sharing and hundreds of Muslim families invested money expecting a good return. As the firm gave some returns to the investors initially, more people began to invest in the firm and even people from Gargeshwari near T. Narasipur too invested. Former Mayor Ayub Khan recalled that 4-5 firms in Mysuru too had cheated investors. He said that the owner and promoters of IMA Jewels are suspected to have left the country.