BENGALURU: While the state government is already receiving flak from opposition leaders for not taking action against IMA Jewels despite having knowledge of the fraud, legal experts and public are now accusing the police of doing a shabby job, from filing complaints to storing the complaint files. Huge bundles of documents with complaint copies are lying on the floor of a small convention hall in Shivaji Nagar.
Advocates ask, “Where is the safety of these documents? It is a case of huge magnanimity and police are keeping the documents bundled up on the floor? Is this the way to handle such important documents,” asked R V Dhananjaya, an advocate.
Legal experts claim that the police should actually date the complaint copy and also have at least a serial number for the complaints. “If tomorrow I want a document which has my complaint in it, how will the police dig out my complaint from the heap of complaint documents?” asked K Diwakar, a High Court advocate.
Meanwhile, the public is also not satisfied with the way complaints have been handled. “Why can’t they spare at least three minutes to know the nature of the complaint and give us an acknowledgement according with the date mentioned,” asks Rehaman Khan, an investor who feels these documents might either get lost or might not stand in court.
Another worry of the investors and complainants is the possibility of the documents being destroyed. “If monsoon showers cause a water seepage in the building or if there is a fire inside what would happen to those thousands of important complaints which have been registered painstakingly?” asked the complainants.
Advocates advised the police to immediately start online entry of the documents. “Otherwise it is going to be a big disaster,” said a senior lawyer on condition of anonymity. The entire investigation has to be transparent, says Dhananjay. He adds, “It is the right of the public to know what are Mansoor’s immovable properties and their value. Atleast the public will then know whether they will get their money back or not? Nothing is being made public. There is no reason for the police to keep these things a secret,” he explained.
Interestingly, legal experts said that several companies or establishments which are supposed to belong to Khan have multiple ownerships and some of them are also on lease. There are people who have removed the boards which had IMA’s name on them. “The name on a skywalk which was funded by IMA but built by someone else, the name is gone. Another case is a property in Richmond Town which had his name which is also gone now,” said Srihari, an advocate.