Encounter cop duped of Rs 20 lakh

AHMEDABAD: In a development dripping with irony, a retired Gujarat cop, Irshadali Saiyed (70), who is also accused in the Sadiq Jamal Mehtar fake encounter case, lost Rs 20 lakh in a ponzi scheme, allegedly run by the son of a policeman. Saiyed had been promised 10% monthly interest on his investment.

Sadiq Jamal, a resident of Bhavnagar, was gunned down by police in an alleged fake encounter near Galaxy Cinema in January 2003.

The alleged ponzi scheme was run by Moinuddin Saiyed, the son of Nizamuddin Saiyed, a junior cop who was posted in the Ahmedabad crime branch for a long period of time. Nizamuddin is a key witness in the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case of June 2004.

The incident comes at a time when there has been a spurt in ponzi schemes cases in Gujarat. Gujarat CID (crime) is currently probing more than 15 such cases, a top police official said.

According to the complaint lodged by Irshadali, a resident of Gulmohar Park in Juhapura, he had bought a house from provident fund and gratuity money, after retiring at the rank of assistant commissioner of police.

“Syed sold the house in 2010 and invested Rs 20 lakh from his profit in Imtsons Investment Pvt. Ltd, which was run by Imtiyaz Saiyed and his son-in-law, Moinuddin Saiyed,” said a crime branch official.

The FIR claims Irshadali paid the money to Moinuddin at his office in the Sakar 7 complex in 2010.” Irshadali was given a a promissory note and some shares in the company. He stated that after a host of cheating complaints were lodged against Imtiaz and Moinuddin, they stopped making his monthly interest payments. He received just two such payments,” a senior crime branch official said.

Imtiaz had, in 2010, been arrested for another cheating offence and Irshadali had met him at the CID crime office in the presence of the investigating officer, H R Baloch.

“The FIR states that as Imtiaz had earlier promised to make good his dues, Irshadali did not lodge a complaint. Imtiaz, however, never returned the money and instead jumped parole and went into hiding in the Gorva area of Vadodara,” said an investigator.

DCP Deepan Bhadran said Irshadali’s FIR states that while Imtiaz was absconding, one Rajubhai, who is related to his brother-in-law, made him speak to Imtiaz on the phone. “Imtiaz had reiterated that he would repay Irshadali’s dues, but never did,” Bhadran said.

Irshadali approached city crime branch on Friday evening and lodged a complaint against Imtiaz and Moinuddin.