Chatra: A total of 139 women from various villages of Chatra and neighbouring Bihar have fallen prey to a fraudulent investment scheme and collectively lost around Rs 3.5 lakh.
According to the complaint filed with the Pratappur police on Thursday, the women accused Nandai village resident Pravesh Kumar of cheating them of their hard-earned money. They said Kumar told them about the scheme of a private company named Tolvin based in Dubai.He claimed that investing Rs 2,500 in the company would yield Rs 1.25 lakh in a year while investing Rs 3,000 and Rs 5,000 would result in returns of Rs 1.75 lakh and Rs 3 lakh. He then collected Rs 2,500 each from them, totalling around Rs 3.47 lakh.
However, even after two years, the promised returns have not been paid. When the women approached Kumar for their money, he claimed he was helpless as the company had closed down. He has since avoided their calls and behaved rudely when they confronted him in person. The women have now sought help from the police. It has also come to light that many women from Gaya, which shares the border with Chatra, had also invested money in the scheme, hoping for substantial returns within a year. Recently, the women discovered that no such company exists in Dubai and that they had been duped by Kumar.
When questioned, Kumar claimed he had been in touch with an agent named Ramashish Kumar from Bodh Gaya, who had provided him with details about the alleged Dubai-based Tolvin company. Kumar said Ramashish Kumar had convinced him to start a branch of Tolvin in Pratappur, and following his instructions, he had asked the women to deposit money in the company. Qasim Ansari, officer-in-charge of Pratappur police station, said the case is being probed and action will be taken against those guilty. Police have summoned Kumar for questioning.