In the wake of arrest of Saradha groups of companies’ chief and other officials for fraud and violating the RBI and SEBI norms, its branches in Puri and three other places of the district were closed with the staff members absconding even as hundreds of depositors held a demonstration in front of its district head office at Badasankha along the grand road demanding recovery of their hard earned money.
In 2011, the finance company had opened its office at Puri enrolling a large number of local unemployed youth as agents on good commission and incentive.
Promising high interest rates than the nationalised banks on deposits and low interest on loans, the company was able to get deposit of over Rs 15 crores within a very short time and opened branches at Bramhagiri, Nimapara and Satyabadi areas.
last week, the depositors and the agents found the offices were locked and the managers and officials untraceable. They lodged a number of cases in the Kumbharpara police station against its manager Ranjan Kumar Das and others. The police registered cases.
When contacted, the investigating officer said they were probing the incident. Notably, in past, three finance companies such as Suraha, Arthatattwa and Florish India had vanished after duping the residents crores of money, while police did precious little to recover the funds and arrest the culprits.