Hubballi: Thousands of investors in North Karnataka are running from pillar to post to get their money back after a private company Harsha Entertainment Private Ltd, allegedly duped them to the tune of Rs 400 crore.
The CID, which has taken up the case for investigation, has detained three brothers Harsha Khasnis, Sanjeev Khasnis and Shrikant Khasnis, who were absconding ever after the scam broke out some months ago. This has brought some hope to the investors, most of whom hail from Dharwad and Belagavi districts.
Initially, some people had deposited money in lakhs and later many others joined after the company, which was started in 2000, promised seven per cent interest per month.
After some investors got high returns, many people felt encouraged to investing. However, the company stopped paying interest for the past few months, causing panic among the investors.
The company authorities had issued post-dated cheques which bounced after the promoters went absconding. This has prompted more than 200 investors to lodge a complaint at Kalghatagi police station. The number of complaints is expected to rise with the arrest of all three brothers.
"I had invested Rs 1.25 lakh in the company last year and got good returns for few months. Later the company authorities stopped paying interest, citing cash crunch due to demonitisation as a reason. We have appealed district in-charge minister Santosh Lad and senior police officials several times to get our principal amount, but to no avail, said Sharanabasappa, a resident of Kalghatagi.
These brothers had left Kalghatagi town on April 9, allegedly on a pilgrimage to Tirupati, they never returned to the town and the state government ordered a CID probe.
They were finally arrested at Mathura in Uttar Pradesh on Monday. They were produced before the principal district and session court in Dharwad on Tuesday and the judge Ramachandra Huddar has handed over their custody to CID until June 7.
