IMA scam: SIT inspects IMA shop, seizes 30 kg gold

BENGALURU: Around 30 kg of gold, 2,600 carat of diamonds and 450 kg of silver, totally worth around Rs 20 crore, were seized when the Special Investigation Team (SIT) carried out an inspection of the I Monetary Advisory (IMA) showroom located in Shivajinagar on Thursday. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has also issued summons to IMA Chairman Mohammed Mansoor Khan.

Around 30 officials carried out an intensive search of the showroom and found valuables and documents in four boxes. Police personnel were deployed around the showroom to ensure security, as a large crowd had gathered.

A senior police officer said, "The IMA showroom in Shivajinagar was searched from 10 am till 9 pm on Thursday.

Valuables worth approximately Rs 20 crore were seized. Certain documents related to property were also found and it is being studied. The search will continue for few more days." The SIT is keen to track down Mansoor and bring him to book. "Our team is already working on gathering leads about his whereabouts. We are hopeful, we can track him at the earliest," a police source said. Meanwhile, some investors have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to hand over the case to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Ahmed Khan, who was also duped by IMA said, "We are also planning to write individual letters to the prime minister and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman requesting them to intervene. Thousands of people were duped and most of them are salaried class. It is difficult for them to digest that the money they had invested is gone."