The Economic Offence Wing of the Crime Branch on Saturday sealed the office of Saradha Group at Balasore while the district administration of Kendrapara decided to involve panchayati raj institutions (PRIs) to create awareness among people against investment in chit fund companies.
A team of the EOW, which had been camping at Balasore for the last three days in the presence of the Magistrate, sealed the office of Saradha Group at Fakir Mohan Gole in Balasore after seizing some documents. The team also recovered hardware of the company’s several computers for verification, an official said.
Meanwhile, the EOW continued to record statements of the people who claimed to have invested in Saradha Group. The team was expected to visit Puri from Monday as many people in the holy town also complained of being duped by the Kolkata- based chit fund firm. Meanwhile, the district administration of Kendrapara decided to involve PRIs and issue advisories to village level leaders requesting them to spread awareness on risk involved in dubious chit funds and financial companies.
The district administration’s decision in this regard came after a large number of people of coastal Kendrapara and Jagatsinghpur area lodged complaints against a company which allegedly closed its offices after collecting about `4 crore from farmers and daily labourers. “It has been often found that major portion of rural people are ignorant and hence are easily lured by chit funds.
(With Agencies inputs)