IMA chief hale and hearty, SIT to grill him for 14 days

Ajay Hilori

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Saturday took into custody IMA founder Mohammed Mansoor Khan for questioning in the multi-crore investment scam.

A principal city civil and sessions court has remanded Khan in the SIT’s custody until August 16. Khan, arrested on July 19, had remained in the custody of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) until August 1 before being remanded in judicial custody. As he complained of regular bouts of chest pain, the court sent him to the Jayadeva hospital for an angiogram. Doctors there, however, concluded that he isn’t facing any cardiac emergency and discharged him from the hospital, saying he is fit for custodial interrogation.

Following the doctors’ opinion, the SIT approached the court with a body warrant of Khan, seeking to interrogate him in custody. The SIT has questioned and taken the statement of all other suspects arrested so far in the IMA scam. They would not only question Khan but also confront him with the statements of other suspects.

‘Scam didn’t happen on my watch’

IPS officer Ajay Hilori, who was questioned by SIT sleuths over the IMA scam on Friday, faced some more grilling on Saturday.

Hilori, Commandant, City Armed Reserve (CAR), was the deputy commissioner of police (Bengaluru East), for 20 months. IMA’s head office, located on Lady Curzon Road in Shivajinagar, falls under the jurisdiction of the East division police.

Speaking to DH, Hilori passionately defended himself. “There are misperceptions in the media that the scam happened during my tenure as DCP (East) and that no action was taken against IMA. During my tenure as the DCP, not a single person came forward with a complaint against IMA. Complaints started to pour in only after he (Mohammed Mansoor Khan) fled the country. To my knowledge, the RBI’s request for an inquiry into IMA’s financial dealings came much before I took charge. As far as other petitions against IMA are concerned, they came from financial authorities and there was little that the police could do about them.”