Freedom fighter, former minister back victims of real estate fraud

 Irked by the slow pace of investigation into the fraud by real estate firms TGS Construction and Dreamz Infra run by Sachin Naik, a number of people protested near the Mahatma Gandhi statue at Maurya Circle on Tuesday.

Holding placards, the investors raised slogans and accused the government of shielding the fraudsters by not taking action. They displayed pictures showing Naik and other promoters with prominent people of the state hinting at their close links with powerful people.

A help desk was also set up at the venue to notarise the documents issued by Naik and his accomplices. There was a long queue of victims to get their documents notarised.

One of the victims, Venkatesh, said he had paid Rs 6 lakh for one of TGS Constructions’ projects in Electronics City. He got wind of the fraud when the project did not start. When he asked the fraudsters to return his money, they gave him cheques which were dishonoured. “I went to their offices many times to get my money back. Once they threatened me with dire consequences if I continued to pester them. This has happened to many of us. Police have done nothing to track these swindlers and help us get our money back,” rued Venkatesh.

To support the victims, veteran freedom fighter H S Doreswamy, former legislator A T Ramaswamy, former minister B T Lalitha Naik, retired bureaucrat M N Vijayakumar’s wife Jayashree and many others participated in the event to lend support to the demonstrators.

Speaking to the protesters, Ramaswamy said the fight is not easy, given the nexus these fraudsters have with powerful people in the state.

“We have to take a vow not to give up our fight, however it may be prolonged. We have to continue our struggle till the matter reaches its logical end,” said Ramaswamy.

Addressing the protesters, Doreswamy said there is some hope as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has promised to take action against the culprits. The freedom fighter said he would meet him again and insist on speeding up the investigation.

Doreswamy, however, lamented that some people in power are supporting the fraudsters.