Three persons were arrested in West Bengal allegedly for running “fraudulent” public deposits schemes.
The arrests were made after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee promised on Tuesday that the State Government would crackdown on such deposit-taking firms.
The Saradha Group scam in the State has brought to the fore instances of several other firms, which were involved in mobilisation of public deposits in lieu of high returns.
The two persons – Asim Kumar Saha and Bhabatosh Das – running a deposit collection firm, were arrested on Tuesday night for allegedly collecting money from public by “showing some land documents”, according to police sources.
According to Vishal Garg, Deputy Commissioner (South) of Kolkata Police, arrests have been made on the basis of an FIR filed by an investor at the Kalighat police station.
One Kanai Pramanik, owner of Sun Heaven Agro India Ltd, another deposit-taking outfit, was arrested from his office at Barasat, headquarters of North 24 Parganas district, on Tuesday for an alleged fraud worth Rs 49 lakh.
“Pramanik was arrested on complaints from investors,” said Paresh Roy, the officer-in-charge of Barasat police station.
The Chief Minister, on Tuesday, ordered closure of two fund-raising companies. The two companies are believed to be among the 73 firms, which are under the scanner of the Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
The West Bengal Assembly on Tuesday passed the West Bengal Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishments Bill, 2013 aimed at protecting depositors from fraudulent money-collection schemes and deposit taking companies.