K'taka Ponzi scheme fraud: 7 directors held, SIT formed

Bengaluru: Seven directors of a firm at the centre of an alleged financial fraud that left thousands of investors in the lurch here were apprehended Wednesday even as a 11-member special investigation team was formed by the Karnataka government to probe the case.

The seven were picked up from different locations, highly-placed sources in the police said.

Earlier in the day, the state government announced the setting up of the 11-member SIT, days after owner of IMA Jewellers Mohammed Mansoor Khan went absconding after allegedly threatening to commit suicide in an audio clip.

Police, who have registered a case against IMA Jewellers and Khan, said they have formed teams to trace him.

Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy tweeted on Wednesday, saying the SIT would be headed by Deputy Inspector General of Police B R Ravikanthe Gowda.