Multi-crore Bengaluru IMA scam: SIT led by DIG Ravikanthe Gowda to probe

Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy on Wednesday announced the formation of a 11-man special investigation team (SIT) led by Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police Ravikanthe Gowda to probe the multi crore I Monetary Advisory (IMA) scam. 

Ravikanthe Gowda will be assisted by Bengaluru Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Crime S Girish, Assistant Commissioner Central Crime Branch, Bengaluru Balaraju, Deputy SP CID K Ravishankar, Dy SP  State Intelligence Bengaluru Raja Imam Kasim and Dy SP Karnataka Lokayukta Abdul Khader.

Others in the team are police inspectors CR Geetha of Karnataka Lokayukta, LY Rajesh of BDA (Bengaluru Development Authority), Anjan Kumar of CCB, N Thanveer Ahmed, State Crime Records Bureau and BK Shekhar of the Commercial Street Police Station.

A note by the Karnataka State Police Chief N Neelamani Raju said that the SIT will report to the ADGP, Crime & Criminal Network Tracking & Systems (CCTNS) Mohammed Saleem.

The development was expected as Home Minister MB Patil who was directed by the CM to take stock of the situation met senior police officials in the state. Speaking to reporters, he had said that the government will form an SIT.

While the company’s MD Mansoor Khan is absconding and is suspected to be in Dubai, six other directors of the company surrendered to the police.

Since Sunday, investors of the scheme went into panic mode after a WhatsApp audio, purportedly that of IMA’s MD Mansoor Khan threatening suicide had gone viral.

In the audio which was also sent to the city Police Commissioner, Mansoor is heard saying that the Shivajinagar Congress MLA, Roshan Baig (although he did not explicitly mention his name in the clip), had taken Rs 400 crore from him to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

On Sunday, based on more than 3,000 representations, Commercial Street Police registered an FIR against Mansoor and four others of the company for cheating and criminal breach of trust. Since then, the number of complaints have been increasing.

The issue was widely covered in the media as hundreds of its investors thronged to IMA’s office since Monday morning, creating a law and order situation