The CBI has booked senior Karnataka-cadre IPS officers Hemant Nimbalkar and Ajay Hilori, along with three other police officers and others in a fresh case in connection with the Rs 4,000-crore I-Monetary Advisory (IMA) scam, in which gullible investors were allegedly cheated in the name of Islamic banking.
The move came after the CBI received sanction from the Karnataka Government to proceed with its investigation into the alleged role of 1998-batch IPS officer Nimbalkar, then posted as the Inspector General (CID-EOW), and 2008-batch IPS officer Hilori, then posted as the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru East.
Besides these two IPS officers, the agency has named the then Inspector M Ramesh
and Sub-Inspector Gowri Shankar, both posted at the Commercial Street police station in Bengaluru and Deputy Superintendant of
Police (CID-EOW) EB Sridhara. Others named as accused in the case include the company, IMA, its founder Mansoor Khan and three
of its other directors-Nizamuddin, Vaseem and Arshad Khan.
The agency had approached the State Government, seeking permission to proceed against the two IPS officers, who were in senior positions in the Karnataka police, and had allegedly helped Khan in continuing his dubious enterprise without taking requisite action as per law, officials said.
The CBI has alleged that since 2016, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) repeatedly raised red flags on the activities of the IMA group, which was allegedly raising illegal deposits from investors promising lucrative returns in the name of Islamic banking practices.
Ramesh had also received a reference in this regard through the DCP, Bengaluru East, but did not conduct a proper enquiry and closed the case on August 29, 2016, the agency has alleged in its FIR.
In his comments on closing the reference, Ramesh had mentioned that the company was operating within the rules and there were no deviations. He had also said that he could not take any action against the company under the Karnataka Protection of Interest of Depositors in Financial Establishment (KPID) Act, 2004 in the absence of a complaint from any depositor, the FIR says.
The probe report by Ramesh was rejected by the RBI and the DCP was asked to re-look into the matter, but he closed the reference just before his transfer, saying it was dealt with by the CID-EOW, the CBI has alleged.
Subsequently, complaints were also made against the company and the Karnataka Principal Secretary (Revenue) had also asked the police to probe the case, but Inspector Ramesh, Sub-Inspector Gowri Shankar and Hilori did not take any action, alleges the FIR.