The tide of investors who allegedly lost money with the IMA Group of Companies shows no indication of ebbing. Thousands of people, on Friday, arrived at the Commercial Street Police Station to lodge complaints.
The police say that in Bengaluru alone, the number of complaints has crossed the 30,000 mark. This is apart from thousands of complaints registered in Mysuru, Kolar, Chitradurga, Davanagere and Kalaburagi.
“Across the State, the number has crossed the 40,000 mark. Thousands of investors are yet to complain. We expect the number to cross the 50,000 mark soon,” a senior police official said.
Senior police officials suspect that IMA founder and kingpin Mohammed Mansoor Khan fled the country on June 8. “We found two air tickets in the name of Mansoor Khan for June 8 – one on an Indigo flight and the other on an Emirates flight. Immigration records suggest that the IMA founder fled the country in an Emirates flight on June 8 to the UAE,” said a senior official.
However, the SIT, which is investigating the scam, refused to confirm that he fled the country. A city court has issued an arrest warrant against Mohammed Mansoor Khan, a legal pre-requisite for the police should they choose to liaison with foreign agencies.
The SIT on Friday detained Iqbal Khan, the auditor of IMA Group and a resident of Frazer Town. He was taken to IMA offices and questioned for several hours.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded handing over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The party also wants the chief minister to take action against Minister for Food and Civil Supplies and Wakf B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan for his alleged ‘business links’ with Mohammed Mansoor Khan. The minister claims that he only sold a property to the IMA founder and that the transaction was above board.
