Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Sep 13: Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), through body warrant, has taken into custody eight of the accused in IMA scam amounting to Rs 1,400 crore. Those given to custody include main accused Mansoor Khan. They have been given for five days custody.

CBI had filed charge sheet in the case against 20 persons. On Thursday September 12, it took eight among them into custody. The CBI team, which has intensified its probe into the IMA scam, had requested the court to hand over some of the accused to its custody. Eight accused were produced in the special CBI court, upon which they were handed over to CBI police. They happen to be Mansoor Khan, Nizamuddin, Nasir Hussain, Naveed Ahmed, Waseem, Ashran Khan, Afsar Pasha and Dadapeer.

Mansoor Khan

Kingpin of the scam, Mansoor Khan, had accepted huge short term investments from the people by offering high rates of interest. He had failed to repay the deposits and interest to people, and had fled to the Gulf region. After offering to return to India subject to assurance of protection, he returned to India, but the enforcement directorate officers took him into custody before the special investigating team could lay hands on him as the immigration officials at the Delhi airport entrusted him to the enforcement directorate.

The investigation was later taken over by CBI from the special investigation team. Mansoor will be questioned till Monday. As Khan is expected to cooperate with the investigating agency, the CBI officials hopefully would be able to learn about the roles played by influential prisons including officials and politicians in this multi-crore ponzi scam.