High drama witnessed in Jawaddi

Nikhil Bhardwaj

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Tribune News Service

Ludhiana October 27

A high drama took place in Jawaddi today after the members of the Naujawan Bharat Sabha and its subsidiary Anti-Chit Fund Action Committee along with several protesters gheraoed the locked house of the alleged chit fund fraudster in Jawaddi and took possession of the property.

Alleging that ‘Singh Land’, a chit fund company, duped hundreds of people by luring them into hollow investment schemes, the protesters reportedly broke open the locks put up by the owner and locked the house with their own locks.

State president of Anti-Chit Fund Action Committee Navdeep Singh Manvi said ‘Singh Land’ duped hundreds of Punjab residents to the tune of over Rs500 crore and now, the victims were running from pillar to post to get their money back.

He said victims from Sangrur, Ludhiana and Barnala districts participated in the protest. Women, among the 200 protesters, gathered at the house of the chit fund company owner and since the house was locked, protesters broke open the lock and entered inside. “We broke open the locks and took possession of the house. We have now put up our own lock and will now not give the possession of the house to the chit fund company owner as we want the hard-earned money of the victims back,” Navdeep said.

“These chit fund companies are flourishing under the nose of the state and Central governments and the governments are registering these without checking the credentials of the officials,” Navdeep said.

One of the victims, Karamjit Singh of Sangrur, said he had deposited lakhs of rupees in the Singh Land Investment Company through Fixed Deposits and Recurring Deposits on the assurance that high interest rates would be paid back and a good sum would be assured at the time of maturity. The accused neither paid any interest, nor returned the principal amount, Singh alleged. He said the police were not registering the FIR against the accused. He said the Anti-Chit Fund Committee would now take forcible possession of the house in Ferozepur, where a man had duped hundreds of people by luring them into investment schemes.