Thane, February 9 Hundreds of victims of a ₹1,200 crore investment scam staged a protest outside the police commissioner's office in Thane district, Maharashtra, demanding a swift investigation into the case and the return of the money they were defrauded of.
The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) had last month arrested three individuals from Gujarat in connection with a scam involving more than 11,000 investors, including 1,500 police personnel, from across Maharashtra.
Protesters, who travelled from Pune, Kolhapur, Jalgaon, and Ratnagiri, blocked the entrance to the police commissioner's office, claiming that the police investigation was proceeding at a snail's pace.
According to the police, the scam involved approximately 11,000 investors and ₹1,200 crore.
The accused, Sameer Narvekar, his wife, Neha, and their associate, Amit Balam, established Trade with Jazz, an investment company, with its headquarters in Pune in 2019.
The trio allegedly lured victims with promises of a 4% monthly return on stock market trading and related ventures, the police had earlier said.
The company abruptly shut its offices and stopped responding to investors, prompting a series of police complaints.
The accused have been booked under the Maharashtra Protection of Interest of Depositors (MPID) Act, 1999, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
Speaking to reporters, one of the defrauded investors said, "Most of us took loans or sold everything we owned to invest in this. Now, our children's education and marriages are at a standstill."
Protesters questioned the effectiveness of the EOW, pointing out that while the scam was worth ₹1,200 crore, the police had only managed to seize ₹12 lakh.