8,127 complaints against IMA Group, another 12K coming

Complaints poured in against the IMA Group, a day after its founder and managing director Mohammed Mansoor Khan disappeared, leaving behind an audio clip that claimed he is going to commit suicide.

Until Tuesday, police received 8,127 complaints against the company that claimed to be dealing in Halal, or Sharia-compliant, businesses.

The crowd was so large that the jurisdictional Commercial Street police had to make arrangements at AS Convention Hall, Shivaji Circle, to receive the complaints. Incidentally, the venue is right next to Frontline Multispeciality Hospital run by the IMA Group.

Investors — mostly poor Muslims and small-time businessmen — stood in long queues to file the complaints. To make the process easier, the police distributed a two-page form among the investors. The form stated that the police have already registered a case under IPC sections 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) against the IMA Group. The complainants have to provide their personal details (name, address and phone number), the amount invested and the date of investment.

Many investors had to line up from morning until evening to file the complaints. Some of them found the process demanding and left midway. Police estimate that around 20,000 people invested in the company and expect many more complainants to show.

Police Commissioner T Suneel Kumar told DH that they were making all efforts to track down Khan.

New audio clips

Meanwhile, audio clips were circulated on WhatsApp. In one of them, a man claiming to be Khan said he was alive and urged people not to panic. He promised to pay off investors. He blamed Shivajinagar MLA, R Roshan Baig. The voice sounds distinctively different from Monday's clip and police believe it to be fake. In another clip, a man says Khan is safe in Bowring Hospital and investors will back their money back.