BJP MPs from Karnataka Pratap Simha and Tejasvi Surya met Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday and submitted a memorandum to her requesting a high-level probe into the IMA jewels case.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued summon to IMA jewels scam main accused Mohammed Mansoor Khan to appear before it on June 24. But he has reportedly fled the country after threatening to commit suicide.
The police have formed teams to trace him. Names of senior Congress ministers including RV Deshpande, current revenue minister and defected MLA Roshan Baig have surfaced in connection with the scam, though both of them have denied any involvement.
The scam came to light on June 10 when an audio clip of Khan blaming MLA Baig and other government officials of corruption went viral. In the video, Khan allegedly said that he defaulted on loans and couldn't pay back on account of giving bribes.
Since then, investors have been protesting outside IMA's office. As the number of grieving investors increased, police set up counters for them to file complaints. The number of complaints increased from a few thousand in the first two days to 10,000 and now stands at 40,000. In addition, there was a separate counter at a different location for 200 employees of IMA, who have invested in the company taking loans from banks and have now lost their jobs.
The BJP MPs also apprised Sitharaman over Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS)issue. "They requested to reinstate 2014 notification which made knowledge of native language study till 10th grade mandatory to apply for Regional Rural Banks exams," BJP MPs said.
