Despite a month having passed, police are unable to nab the fugitive couple which allegedly vanished with the people’s money deposited in the community kitty. Those who are at the receiving end of the alleged fraud demonstrated at Saptrishi police station on Friday, demanding arrest of the alleged fraudsters.
Notably, this scam came on the heels of a similar case known as GIG mall kitty scam which had led to demonstration dragging for days. The latest one that surfaced over a month ago involves Ravi Katyal and his wife Renu who had allegedly fleeced some of Saptsarovar Colony of Rs 35 lakh. The losers alleged that the daughter- in- law of Ravi, Heena and her husband Ankit Malhotra, had helped the couple to flee, adding that police are sleeping on the matter with Ankit being associated with the ruling BJP. They demanded arrest of all the four persons allegedly involved in the case.
One of the demonstrators Asha Dutta said while talking to The Pioneer on Friday that the amount invested in the chit fund run by Katyal couple was about Rs 35 lakh. “They have now vanished and police are sitting tight because one of the quartet is associated with the ruling BJP,” she said.
Notably, the GIG mall at old Ranipur More which was taken on rent by the kitty couple Gurpreet Kaur and Savinder Singh is now under the seizure of police.
A special investigation team, formed to probe the scam, had written to the enforcement directorate to evaluate the sum for its sale so as to enable the authority to sell it and refund the money the victims were duped of. Savinder Singh is now cooling his heels in jail while his wife Gurpreet is now out on bail. The scam assumed a political hue as police interrogated a woman BJP leader among many. Police said they are having problems in settling the case through auction or otherwise as some of the allegedly defrauded persons have inflated the amount they have claimed to have invested in the kitty.
Speaking of the matter, head of SIT Prakash Arya said that there are vast discrepancies between the amounts they claimed to have been duped of and the amounts they presented when asked to substantiate their claims with receipts.
Referring to the case, SSP Krishna Kumar V K said that things are now lying in the court with charge-sheet being filed against Savinder Singh. “We are probing now the latest case involving Katyal couple,” he added.