Key Crown chit fund accused nabbed at Amritsar airport

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 23

One of the prime accused in the multi-crore Crown chit fund scam, Jagtar Singh Bhullar, was finally arrested when he was trying to flee abroad from the Amritsar international airport on Thursday midnight.

Bhullar, said to be among the top five management members of the Crown chit fund company, was living in disguise as a taxi driver in Mohali for the past over a year to evade arrest.

The company had duped thousands of investors from Punjab after luring them into chit fund scheme, offering fast growth of the invested money.

“Bhullar had planned to reach Vancouver via Doah, but the immigration officials foiled his plan at the Amritsar airport,” said Inspector Baljinder Singh, SHO, state crime branch police station in Mohali.

He added that a lookout notice was issued last year against the main accused, including Bhullar. The SHO said a team of the crime branch arrested him from the airport early this morning. He was produced in a Mohali court today and sent to police custody till August 26.

He belongs to Ferozepur and had risen in the company by bringing in huge investments. Six FIRs were lodged against him for cheating investors and dishonoured cheques given to the investors, said the SHO.

Bhullar had worked as a salesman and a financial adviser with two private banks.

Jai Kumar and Gurdeep Singh, president and general secretary of the Crown chit fund sangharsh committee, respectively, said their hope for justice rekindled with this arrest. They hoped that the police would nab main accused — Mohsin Jameel and Jagjit Singh, CEP and managing director of the Crown chit fund company, respectively. They were reportedly hiding abroad. The state crime branch of the police had taken over the Crown chit fund scam investigation in October 2015 when several FIRs were lodged all over the state against the firm directors for duping investors in the name of doubling their investments in short time. Besides Bhullar, 20 accused in the case have been arrested so far.