Bengaluru: Minority welfare minister B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan's emotional demand for speedy investigation into the multi-crore IMA scam on Tuesday belied his alleged links with the ponzi firm and the fact that he accepted an advance amount of Rs 5 crore for selling off his property in an upscale area, Richmond Town, in Bengaluru.
Soon after leading a delegation of minority leaders to home minister, M B. Patil, the minister broke down while speaking to the media and spoke of the need for the state government to act tough against all politicians, bureaucrats and leaders allegedly involved in this scam.
In an affidavit submitted to the Election Commission of India (ECI) in 2018, however, Mr Zameer Ahmed Khan admits that he accepted an advance amount of Rs 5 crore from I Monetary Advisory (IMA) company towards the sale agreement of his property.
According to IMA website, the company had business interests in several verticals, including real estate, bullion trading, retail jewellery, gold finance, infrastructure development, book publishing and print media, in the city and had collected large amount from unsuspecting people, promising them attractive returns.
Repeated attempts to reach Mr Zameer Ahmed Khan for his reaction on the issue did not yield results as one cell phone remained switched off while the other was out of reach.
A section Congress leaders has sarcastically remarked that the minister's affidavit submitted to the ECI being a confessional statement of sorts as this affidavit clearly stands testimony to the fact that he "enjoyed close relationship" with the IMA. "As a MLA he may have entered into an agreement with the IMA. Now he cannot say that it was just a trade which did not materialise to escape people's ire at this juncture. This decision might prove costly as the IMA is also a real-estate firm. Hence, he cannot run away from the fact that he did not know the owner well," a senior leader rationalised.
