BJP: Order CBI inquiry into IMA scam, govt protected perpetrators

Bengaluru: With IMA founder Mohammad Mansoor Khan taking the names of some politicians and senior bureaucrats in his latest video, the state BJP on Monday urged the government to hand over the probe into the scam to the CBI. BJP MLA C.N. Ashwathnarayana said that the entire government machinery protected the company that committed the fraud.

Though the company was accepting investments from the public and announcing Ponzi schemes, the government decided to ignore these irregularities.

The RBI had warned way back in 2015 about the activities of the organisation, but the government did not invoke the KPID Act. The Revenue Department had sent a file for legal opinion, without attaching relevant documents and RBI notes. Besides, the government tried to give no-objection certificate to the company through the Revenue Department to avail bank loans, he alleged.

Since many bigwigs and senior bureaucrats are involved, the state government is engaged in a massive cover-up and is in a “hide”, “suppress” and “forget” mode. “In his video, Mansoor Khan has named many politician and bureaucrats, saying that there was a threat to his life.

Since the entire government machinery is involved in this massive scam, running up to over Rs 5,000 crore, the investigation has to be handed over to the CBI,” he said.

Equating the IMA scam with Saradha Chit Fund scam, he said that like in the West Bengal scam, here too the government is trying to mislead, cover up, sabotage and provide political patronage.

“The BJP will protest till the government hands over investigation to the CBI and if required, we will seek the intervention of the judiciary as it happened in the Saradha Chit Fund case. Otherwise, the SIT, which is fundamentally formed to cover up the case, will succeed in destroying most of the evidence and will harm Mansoor Khan also,” he charged.

Come back, help punish guilty: Zameer Ahmed to Mansoor

Reiterating his earlier plea to IMA managing director Mohammad Mansoor Khan to return, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Zameer Ahmed Khan on Monday said that anyone guilty of swindling IMA money should be punished.

He said that Mansoor Khan should return and give the list of people who swindled money from him. “Whoever they are, the guilty should be brought to book. For that, Mansoor Khan should return first and give the list and spell out the names of politicians and bureaucrats involved in the scam,” he said.

“Mansoor has himself admitted that he has to pay back Rs 1,350 crore. However, the information is that he owes more than Rs 2,000 crore to people. It involves over 50,000 people. The government is in favour of helping the poor and if Mansoor gives the list, the government will take steps to help the poor investors,” Mr Zameer Ahmed said.