Two former directors of a chit fund company who were absconding since 2015 were arrested from separate places in Chhattisgarh for allegedly duping investors of crores of rupees in Surguja division, police said on Sunday.
The two were directors of BN Gold Real Estate and Allied Chit Fund Company which ran its operations from 2009 to 2015 in Ambikapur town of Surguja district and allegedly embezzled around Rs 9.82 crores of investors, said Rahul Tiwari, the head of the Gandhinagar police station.
Acting on specific inputs, one of the accused, Gopal Das Manikpuri (55), was apprehended from his village Kodhari in Korba district. Chaitram Kewat (55) was held from his village Malhar in Bilaspur district on July 17, Tiwari said.
Another accused director of the company, Santosh Das (56), a resident of Korba, died in 2011, he said.
The accused had set up an office of their firm in Ursu Line area in Ambikapur in 2009. The firm allegedly lured residents of Surguja and neighbouring districts to double their money within a short time and received over Rs 9.82 crore from 5,806 people as investment, the officer said.
When the investors did not receive the promised returns, they complained to the district administration in 2015 following which the company's operations were shut.
The police lodged a case of cheating among others against the company officials. Since then efforts were on to trace the company officials who were absconding.