Kozhikode police busts inter-state racket

KOZHIKODE: The city police has busted a money chain racket,  ‘Orbit 9X,’ which had siphoned off  crores of rupees ovr the last one year.

Named after an international company, a Mumbai-based racket  collected money from around 20,000 persons across the state offering online  job opportunities, according to the police.

The police  arrested Sumith Raj Sinha of Mumbai and Sunil of Azhikkode, Kannur, last week who were remanded to judicial custody later.

City police commissioner P.A. Valsan, who was instrumental in busting the racket, told DC on Friday that the gang did not give even a single rupee back to those who had participated in the schemes though the company had tall claims.

The modus operandi of the firm was to make others join  the money-chain promising huge prize money for answering questions published in a magazine brought out by the group on a monthly basis.

The subscription fee for the magazine under various schemes was  Rs 3,100, Rs 9,000, Rs 27,000 and Rs 49,000, the commissioner added.  

The hoax came to light when a native of Koduvally approached the police when he failed to receive any prize money. In Kozhikode, Kannur and Malappuram districts,  as many as 3,000 persons were working to enlist members, and in Kottayam district,  4,000  were  employed as commission agents.

The Orbit Media Studios, the international company, had  warned customers on its website that there was a company in India, called ‘Orbit 9X’ that was claiming to be affiliated with Orbit Media Studios, which was not true.

The police are tracking two Mumbai natives, the masterminds behind the racket which has its offices in Coimbatore and Bangalore. More arrests would follow  soon,  the police said.