A retired bank manager along with his son and daughter-in-law was arrested for allegedly running a chit fund scheme and duping 36 people of more than Rs 20 crore, police said on Wednesday.
The accused have been identified as Iqbal Bahadur Singh Baweja, his son Parmeet Singh Baweja, and his daughter-in-law Jasneet Kaur Baweja. According to the police, a complaint was registered against the accused under sections 420, 209, 34, and 120 B of the Indian Penal Code and 4, 5, and 6 of the Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act.
Surjit Singh Anand, the complainant alleged that Iqbal, Parmeet, Jasneet, and one Tajinder had been running a chit fund scam under the name Rijak Chit Funds and PSB Chit funds, police said.
They were also alleged to have been running an electronics showroom and a banquet hall in Rajouri Garden.
“The accused had induced the public at large to invest and shown them rosy pictures of a good return. The alleged persons received a huge amount (Approx Rs 20 crore) in the name of chit funds and loan and fled away to some unknown place,” the police said in a statement.
During the course of the investigation, the statements of victims were recorded who alleged against the accused family, relevant bank statements scrutinised and efforts made to arrest the accused.
The police later declared the accused as ‘proclaimed offenders’ as they had been avoiding the arrest.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (EOW) Anyesh Roy said that the accused were traced in Panna in Madhya Pradesh and were arrested on Tuesday.
According to the police, Iqbal is a retired officer from a public sector bank. After taking voluntary retirement, he registered a chit-fund company with his retirement money and roped in his family members, they said.
“They used to receive money at high rates of interest and then rotate it. They also issued cheques, promissory notes, payment receipts etc to the public, as security against their investments,” police added.
