Mangaluru: The incident where the owner of “Bhargavi Finance” and his wife cheated the local people for more than crores of rupees has come to light and the CCB police have taken the accused into custody and are interrogating them.
Deepak Shetty, a resident of Surathkal filed a complaint and Ashok Bhat, who owned Bhargavi Finance in Surathkal, his wife Vidyavathi Bhatt and daughter Priyanka Bhat are accused in the case. A fraud case has been registered against him in the SEN Crime Station.
Incident Details
In the beginning at Bhargavi Finance a chit fund amounting to Rs. 50000 was collected, which turned into lakhs of money over the years. It continued and a fund upto Rs. 30 lakh was accumulated of the hoteliers, shopkeepers, businessmen, traders of the environment paid their hard-earned millions of rupees. The victims complained to the media that the accused, who always said that they would withdraw the fund money at the end, accepted the money through cash instead of through cheques.
Ashok Bhat has cheated hundreds of people in Surathkal area ranging from Rs. 2500 to Rs. 70 lakh. The victims have complained that every time they were careful not to leave any records, and siphoned off customers’ money using the name of his wife and daughter. When asked about the non-payment of the funds even when the fund period was coming to an end, the finance collector, who was collecting money, told the name of Yakshat, a resident of Shibaroor, and lied that he had cheated by not paying the money. This has been going on for years and finally the person who paid the money complained to the police station. The police conducted an operation accordingly and arrested the accused.
Notorious rowdy who was exiled!
Fraudulent Ashok Bhat was previously identified with BJP, Bajrang Dal, and other Hindu organisations and involved in more than 20 communal cases. He was branded a communal goon and exiled. Later he left BJP and joined Congress. Subsequently, the cases against him were withdrawn. Ashok Bhattwas also a gym trainer in NIT – K and also group of Muslim youth had tried to kill him. Various cases were registered against Ashok Bhat in Panambur and Surathkal stations.
Big case in the State if the investigation is done properly!
Ashok Bhat has committed a fraud of more than Rs 15 Crore through Surathkal Finance. On behalf of the victims, Ajith Kumar said that if the Police Department investigates properly, this will be the biggest fraud case in the State as they are doing finance business in Mysuru and Kateel too. He said that it is possible that the accused have cheated crores of rupees and that a complaint will be filed with Deputy Commissioner. Uday Alva, Deepak Shetty, Sadananda Sherigar, and Kailas Thadambail were present at the press conference.
Uday Alva alleged that Bhat threatened to kill if he asked for the fund money back and for standing up for the victims. We need protection from Ashok Bhat, who says that I have already finished some people. His wife and daughter threatened me too, he added.
