Members and volunteers of the Aam Aadmi Party’s Odisha unit and general public held a demonstration at the Master Canteen Square here on Wednesday demanding an immediate impartial probe by the CBI into the massive fraud by chit fund companies in connivance with politicians and other powerful persons.
While everybody knew for years the illegal activities of these companies, no action has been taken; so, the authorities must be held responsible for this criminal negligence, the agitators maintained.
The Saradha Group scam in West Bengal has clearly shown the nexus between politicians and businessmen. The “dramatic” raids by the Crime Branch on more than a hundred offices of chit fund companies across Odisha, the arrest of MD of Artha Tatwa and the case against the Seashore Group have created a lot of anxiety among people and raised many serious questions.
In this context, the small depositors who have been duped by the unscrupulous companies are left without any hope of getting their money back, they said.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) aims to provide a platform to aggrieved citizens to unite themselves across Odisha and demand for justice. While the State Government claims to have passed the Odisha Protection of Interests of Depositors Bill to curb activities of unscrupulous chit fund operators, the law is awaiting approval of the President of India.
This must be urgently pursued and implemented to avoid such unfortunate scams which have ruined lakhs of families, an AAP leader said.
He demanded that the State Government create a fund using the assets seized from these companies and start identifying genuine and really poor families that may need immediate support. This must be taken up as a priority and public must be reassured about their investment and not treated like partners in crime, he said.