Berhampur: Tension gripped Kanisi area here of Ganjam district after a group of depositors duped by a chit fund firm forced their way into the branch office of the company and ransacked it Friday.
The private firm ‘Datum’ had collected huge amounts from depositors by promising good returns and then closed down the office a year ago.
Carrying placards and banners, the agitators demanded that the district administration take immediate steps to return their hard-earned money at the earliest.
Staging a road blockade, they also demanded the immediate arrest of the promoter of the company. Local police reached the spot and pacified the agitators by promising that their complaints would be taken up with the higher authorities.
Duped depositors said the company had been operating in the area since 2008 and had taken “crores of rupees” in deposits from the people by promising them high interest. The company downed its shutters and ceased its branch operations a year back.
An FIR has been lodged and the investigations will begin soon, police said.
The aggrieved people said there seemed to be no end to duping by chit fund companies in the state and there was no serious official-level vigil against such fraudulent firms.
