CBI gets 3-day custody of Roshan Baig in IMA scam case

Bengaluru: A special court on Wednesday granted CBI three days custody of former Congress minister R Roshan Baig, arrested in connection with the multi crore I- Monetary Advisory (IMA) ponzi scam, agency sources said.

"We have obtained three day custody of Roshan Baig till November 28 to further probe his role in the IMA scam," a CBI source told PTI.

Baig, who was disqualified as a Congress legislator after he revolted against the party last year, was arrested on Monday.

CBI sources said he will be 'confronted' with the mastermind of the ponzi scam, Mohammed Mansoor Khan, who is now in CBI custody till November 27.

Baig's arrest came close on the heels of questioning Bengaluru Additional Commissioner of Police (Administration) Hemant Nimbalkar, another accused in the case, on November 22.

The multi-crore ponzi scheme, run by Karnataka-based IMA and its group entities, allegedly duped over a lakh of people to the tune of Rs 4,000 crore promising higher returns using Islamic ways of investment, the sources said.

The scam came to light in June 2019 when the IMA operator Mohammed Mansoor Khan fled the country accusing Baig and some government officers of cheating him.

Khan had alleged that Baig had taken about Rs 400 crore from him, a charge rejected outright by the latter.

Khan came to India after much persuasion by the police and surrendered.

The then coalition government of Congress and JD(S) had formed a Special Investigation Team to probe the matter.

However, the BJP government which came to power later handed over the case to the CBI.

The central agencuy has arraigned an IAS officer, two IPS officers, a Karnataka Administrative Service officer and a corporator as accused, among others, in the case after the state government grantedpermission for prosecuting them.

The IAS officer, who was the former deputy commissioner of Bengaluru Urban district, had allegedly died by suicide in his house a couple of months ago. PTI